


A Demon's Fate

by psychgrimmlover



Category: One Piece
Genre: AU, Action/Adventure, Claiming, Demon & Human Interactions, Demon/Human Relationships, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, M/M, Multi, NO RELIGION, Romance, Supernatural - Freeform, Supernatural Elements, can't think of anything else right now
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-22
Updated: 2015-06-09
Packaged: 2018-03-08 15:03:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 36,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3213509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/psychgrimmlover/pseuds/psychgrimmlover
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Supernatural-seeing Zoro and his Medium sister Perona stumble upon a group of five Demons in the middle of a torrential thunderstorm. How did they get there? Why are they even there? Is it part of some larger plot, a coincidence, or just really bad luck? And to top it off, one of the Demons has taken a strong liking to Zoro. This can't possibly end bad, right? **On Hiatus for Right Now (sorry!)**</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:** **Summary for the Chapter:**

> **PLEASE READ**
> 
> Okay, I'm changing some things around with my story now. I've learned a lot of new things from watching the Anime, new characters and new details and different viewpoints and such, so I did a quick rewrite of some parts that match up with what I've seen or read. I could babble on about this, but it'd just be easier for y'all to read through it to know what I'm talking about. My mind works in mysterious ways, latching onto something before moving on to something completely different, so that's what has been happening. I know where I want this fic to go, but getting there and typing it up is always the hurdle I have to surpass. Okay, enough of my babbling, please enjoy my story!
> 
> Re-uploaded: May 31, 2015

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay...I went and done it again. I'm supposed to be working on certain other stories, but my mind decided it wanted to start on a new fic. I'm so sorry, I hate leaving things half-done (though I suppose I'm prone to doing so) but I don't really choose which fics my brain decides to focus on. It's just the way I work, I guess. I'll get writer's block on some things while ideas flow on other things; it just happens. Again, my apologies. Now, moving on, I'm still in (love with) Anime, and this is for the One Piece fandom (my #1 Anime). And, of course, it's a ZoLu one, since those two are both my OTP and BROTP. I love Luffy and Zoro to death. How could you not? Now, with saying that, this fic will be Yaoi, so if you don't like boyXboy love, then hit the back button right now 'cuz you won't like this fic. Trust me. Okay, now that half the readers have left, I'd like to say this fic is an AU. Kind of hard to explain, but I'll try.
> 
> It mostly revolves around Luffy and Zoro, though Luffy is a Demon while Zoro is just a Human, though has what I'm calling the "Sight", which is basically the ability to see all the supernatural creatures around him, even if they're using their "Human Façades" (if you watch the TV show Grimm, it's kind of like what Grimms can do). The others will make their appearances as well—everyone but Franky being supernatural and Franky being, well, what he actually is: a Cyborg. I'm also including Perona and Mihawk ('cuz I love the Zoro/Perona/Mihawk family dynamic so much), and Ace and Shanks will appear as well. It'll explain who is what in the fic. Oh, and in this story, I'm writing with the notion that humans and supernatural live together, the humans knowing they exist, but some could go their whole lifetime without actually meeting one. While in the Human Realm (one of the many Realms that will exist), they like to blend in, employing "Human Façades" to do so. Along the way, through the chapters, I'll add author notes to the bottoms to explain concepts I'm using in the fic if it already isn't obvious, and, of course, you can always ask me if you want.
> 
> There will be more pairings than just ZoLu in this fic. You'll see who's with who along the way ;). Well, if I have anything more to add, I'll do so along the way. Now, sit back and enjoy the show!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or any of One Piece's characters mentioned in this fic.
> 
> Warning: This is AU. Basically, all that remains are their names, faces, and a few personality traits, but other than that, the characters in this story are mostly OOC.

Zoro had been able to see strange things since he was a baby.

At the age of four, his grandfather told him that, like _his_ own mother, Zoro had what’s called the “Sight”, which allowed him to see the Supernatural—even when they’re hiding behind their Human façades—that were living in the Human Realm. The Roronoa Family had always had this unique gift, being passed down through the generations, but with no guarantee on who would _actually_ possess it. His parents, of course, did not like that Zoro had this disturbing talent, calling it a curse more than anything, and would try everything they could to suppress this ability and keep Zoro from using it. However, what they _didn’t_ know was that, behind their backs, Zoro’s grandfather was teaching him everything he knew, everything his mother had told him or left to him in books. At age six, Zoro’s grandfather passed away, leaving to him, on his deathbed, the family sword—a white katana by the name of Wadō Ichimonji that had been passed through the generations, but only _owned_ by the ones with Sight.

Three months had passed since his grandfather had died and Zoro’s relationship with his parents continued to grow worse, until Zoro finally got fed up, packed his belongings, and ran away from home. He drifted from town to town, city to city, living off of the kindness of strangers who would feed him or shelter him, as well as the Supernatural he could see that would point out safe places to stay or warn him away from untrustworthy people. A year had passed by when Zoro finally stumbled upon a remote town by the name of _Ohara_. He instantly got a good feeling from the town and decided to explore, maybe grab a place to sleep or something to eat. He didn’t realize _this_ was where his life would actually begin, and where, in the near future, it would also change forever.

* * *

Zoro made his way to the entrance of the town, stomach growling as he glanced around. His gut, which had become pretty reliable over the year he’d been alone, told him this was a good place, so he decided to give it a go. After entering through an elaborate stone archway, he glanced around and could automatically tell it was a very decent, tidy town at a fairly large size, and the streets were well-populated with people milling and shopping around while the salespeople did their jobs, all the citizens conversing and laughing with one another in comfortable familiarity. Zoro continued walking down what he thought was the main street, looking around every so often, but so far, nothing spectacular stuck out to him…well, not until his roving eyes swept past a fruit vendor cart before suddenly landing on the man standing in front of it. He wandered a little closer, wanting to confirm what his Sight was showing him.

The man was really tall, probably a little over nine-feet, and had a curly black afro, dark brown eyes covered by round, tinted spectacles, an abnormally curved scar on the right side of his forehead, a scruffy goatee, dark brown lips, pale skin, and a thin, wiry frame; he’s wearing an orange long-sleeved polo shirt with flared cuffs underneath a black vest decorated with white flowers, flared pants with the left leg white and the right black/orange-striped, black heeled boots, and dangling from his arm was a purple cane. Nothing noteworthy nor out of the ordinary, except, to Zoro, he could _see_ much more…see how his features were sharper, more defined, that the skin was translucent and shimmery, his eyes were actually an emerald green and took a more slanted appearance, coming out of his back were a pair of large, translucent, glimmering butterfly-like wings, and sticking out from his afro, on the sides, were ears that were slightly curved and pointed at the tips.

 _A Fae_ , Zoro thought, watching as he conversed with the cart's owner about the weather or something. After a few moments of silent watching, Zoro didn’t get any bad vibes from the man, so he made his way a little closer, which caused the Fae to finally notice him as well.

Looking down, he gave the young child a bemused, but friendly, smile. “Yohohoho. Why, hello there, young one. What are you doing out here all alone?” He then noticed how the child was covered in cuts and bruises, some healed over scars, and it looked like he hadn’t seen a shower in days. “And where are your parents?”

“Don’t have any.” Zoro answered with a shrug; he found using that response garnered less questions from people.

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” the Fae answered before seeing the child’s eyes flicker over to the fruit cart. “Would you like one?”

Zoro moved his startled glance back to the man. “I—”

The Fae had already reached behind him and grabbed an apple, giving the seller a silver coin, before handing the fruit to Zoro. “There you go.”

“Thanks.” Zoro murmured, grabbing the apple before scarfing it down; as he ate, he looked back up at the man and, since he was curious, asked, “Are there more of you in this town?”

“Of me?” he asked, confused.

Zoro, since he was chewing, motioned to his ears before just saying around a mouthful of apple when the man continued to look confused, “Fae.” He then swallowed. “Supernatural.”

The Fae blinked in surprise. “What are you…”

Zoro took another bite of his apple as he looked at him. “I can see it.”

The man was rendered speechless before placing a hand on the child’s shoulder and steering him away from the other people; Zoro, though confused, allowed himself to be led away, finishing up the last bit of his fruit before chucking the core away. They finally reached a corner that was mostly empty a few streets over from the main one before the Fae let Zoro go.

“What do you mean you can _see_ it?” he asked carefully.

Zoro blinked. “I can see it. What the hell else could that mean?”

“See what?” the Fae asked, ignoring Zoro’s language.

“Your ears, features and skin.” Zoro answered, looking around the town once more—always good to scout out possible escape routes, just in case.

“Oh my word.” He whispered, staring down at the child. “You have the Sight, don’t you?”

“Yeah.” Zoro answered with a shrug.

The Fae just blinked before realizing he’d been rude. “My apologies!” Zoro looked at him with an eyebrow raised. “I never even introduced myself. My name is Brook, and I am of the Seelie Faerie.”

“Zoro.” The child simply said, taking Brook’s offered hand to shake.

“How did—”

“Brook.” The two froze when they heard that hard voice—Zoro from confusion and Brook from, well, fright. “What are you doing with this child?”

“I—um, it’s not…” Brook trailed off, shrinking under that golden, piercing glare.

“Who the hell are you?” Zoro asked, looking up at the man now standing in front of them.

He was probably six-foot-something and had short, spiked-back black hair with sharp sideburns that pointed upwards at the ends, bright yellow eyes ringed by gold, the colors separated by a thin black line (looking like something you’d find on an eagle or hawk, maybe), alabaster skin, a black mustache, a thin black beard connected to the sideburns, and a lean, athletic build; around his neck was a gold cross necklace and strapped to his back looked to be a huge sword that resembled a large cross. He’s dressed casually in a dark red polo, black jeans, and plain black leather boots.

“And who might you be?” the man asked Zoro instead of answering him, looking the child over.

Zoro didn’t answer either, instead was staring right back at the man, his Sight still Active from talking with Brook. He seemed to be Human, but there was something…something almost _shimmering_ around the man that Zoro _thought_ he’d seen before, but couldn’t recall from _where_. His head tilted as he continued to stare, not noticing how annoyed the man was becoming from this silent scrutiny.

“What _are_ you doing?” the man finally asked, glaring down the child—though said child didn’t seem to be intimidated by his piercing glare like others usually were.

Zoro’s head tilted to the other side as he muttered, “What are you? You aren’t completely Human, but you aren’t Supernatural either…”

The man looked about ready to draw his sword, so Brook stepped in, putting himself in front of Zoro. “Now, Mihawk, please calm yourself. The child means no harm, I assure you. I just don’t think he’s seen a Hunter before.”

Mihawk’s gaze snapped up to Brook. “Careful about what you say aloud.”

Brook just shook his head. “It’s alright. This child, he has—” He was interrupted.

“Well, well, what is happening over here?” a smooth, silky voice asked as it came upon the trio.

The men swung their eyes up to the approaching female, though only Zoro looked confused as to her identity. The woman seemed to be just over six-feet and had straight, hip-length light black hair with two shoulder-length strands framing her face, sky blue eyes, light tan skin, a slender, well-endowed, hourglass figure with long legs and arms, and her upper-canines looked slightly sharper than normal; she’s wearing a reddish-purple flowing camisole with gold rivets over the bust, dark brown capris, dark purple pumps, and pushed up on top of her head were silver amber-tinted aviators.

“Miss Nico.” Brook said with a slight bow. “You are looking beautiful this fine afternoon.”

“Robin.” Mihawk said, giving her a polite nod in greeting, before turning his gaze back to the child, who was now staring at Robin with curiosity.

Though at first glance, like Brook, this woman looked completely normal, but to Zoro’s Active Sight, he could see what’s hiding behind her Human façade. To Zoro, her eyes were a blood red, she had long, sharp fangs poking out from under her top lip, her skin tone was a lot lighter, and her nails were more talon-like.

Zoro finally blinked before pointing at the lady and simply stating, “Vampire.”

The woman looked slightly shocked at the proclamation before a sly smile tilted her lips. “What are you talking about, little one?”

Brook placed a hand on Zoro’s shoulder before glancing between the other two. “Like I was just about to tell Mihawk, this child…he has the Sight.”

The two looked down at the child in some shock and fascination.

“Does he now.” Mihawk said, now gazing at the child more closely, and with less annoyance.

“How interesting.” Robin said, cheek resting in her palm as she gazed at Zoro. “What is your name, little one?”

“Zoro.” He answered, moving out from behind Brook before turning to look at the Fae. “Are these friends of yours?”

A gasp from Robin caused the three men to face the Vampire again, eyebrows raised in question. Robin, however, was staring at something strapped on Zoro’s back.

“Is that…” she trailed off before looking at Zoro again. “You are a Roronoa, aren’t you?”

Zoro blinked, a little surprised, but nodded. “I am. How’d you know that?”

Robin pointed at the sword on his back. “Only the Roronoa Family have been known to own that particular katana you are carrying around. Coupled with you having the Sight, it was an easy assumption.”

Mihawk’s gaze followed Robin’s hand and even _he_ looked a little shocked. “Wadō Ichimonji. I have not seen that sacred blade for decades.”

“My grandpa gave it to me when he died.” Zoro said, pulling the katana off his back to show the group. “He told me I was the new owner, but I don’t even know _how_ to _use_ a sword.”

“Hmm…” Mihawk hummed out, now studying Zoro with interest.

Robin hid a giggle behind her palm as she watched Mihawk watch Zoro; she could see the gears whirling in his head. It seemed Mihawk finally found his reason for setting down roots in her little town.

“Would you like to learn how to use a sword?” Mihawk asked the child.

Zoro looked back up at the Hunter, head tilted, before shrugging.

“I could teach you.” Mihawk said, crossing his arms over his chest. “Teach you how to use that sword, how to protect yourself, because not all Supernatural are as accepting as these two to ones with the Sight. Some like remaining in the dark, and having one who could oust them…”

“It would make one rather upset.” Robin said with a nod. “Learning a way to protect yourself would be the intelligent thing to do.”

“And what do you want in return?” Zoro asked, liking the idea but cautious of things that sounded too good to be true.

“Come and stay with me.” Mihawk said, tilting his head, like a bird watching prey. “Stay while I train you, and if you wish to leave after, you may.”

“Stay with you?” Zoro asked, head cocked.

“I live in a house at the edge of this town—”

“My _old_ house, actually.” Robin interrupted with a smile.

Mihawk rolled his eyes. “Yes, your _old_ house, my current one.” He shook his head. “In any case, I live there alone and the house is quite large, so it’d be no inconvenience if you were to come stay with me.”

“So you can train me.” Zoro clarified, already getting excited, but playing it cool.

“Yes.” Mihawk said with a nod.

“Sounds like a splendid idea.” Robin said, looking down at Zoro.  

“Yes, indeed. It’d be nice to have a new face around town.” Brook added, leaning on his cane.

Zoro feigned thinking it over before shrugging. “Why not. I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

Mihawk nodded. “Excellent. Now, follow me and I will lead you to what will be your new home.”

Zoro looked back at the other two.

“We’ll see each other around, Zoro.” Robin said with a slight giggle; she’d make sure of it.

“Yohohoho. Robin is correct. I’d love to talk more with you.” Brook said with a flourished bow.

Zoro scoffed, but couldn’t hide the pleased gleam in his eye. He looked back up at Mihawk. “Let’s go.”

* * *

Even after Zoro’s training was done, he stayed in the small town of Ohara. The place quickly became his home, something he’d never felt when in his  _actual_ home, and when Mihawk realized Zoro had no intentions to leave, he adopted the boy. Three years after that, another newcomer arrived in the town, a young girl—about a year younger than Zoro—by the name of Perona wandered in, much in the same fashion Zoro did. After running into her in town, and seeing how hungry she looked, Zoro brought her back to the house for something to eat and then discovered that the girl was Clairvoyant, a Medium who could see and talk to spirits; the only reason Zoro figured this out was because, with his Sight, he could see vague outlines of those spirits around her and put two-and-two together. A few months after that, Mihawk had another adopted child.

The two grew up together as brother and sister, very close with one another, though you probably wouldn’t be able to tell by looking at them, and were trained well by Mihawk. This weird little family _worked_ because all three had one big thing in common: they dwelled in between the world of Human and Supernatural, not quite belonging to either one thanks to their special abilities. Nothing interesting ever happened to them over the years, but that all changed about a decade-and-a-half after Zoro arrived in Ohara. Their lives all changed majorly during one stormy night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, any good? This is supposed to be a prologue more than anything, giving some background on Zoro and such. Oh, and let me explain on what I meant when I said "Active Sight": his Sight has two "settings" (so to speak)—Active and Passive; with Active, he can see what kind of supernatural creature he's seeing and identify them, while Passive lets him acknowledge that that person is supernatural but not what kind. Passive is like the "resting" setting, I guess. That's it for now. I'll post the actual first chapter in a little while, depending on how well this one does. We'll see. Anyways, thanks for reading!


	2. One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry. I mean to add the next chapter a lot sooner than this, but, well, life happened. Annnywhoo...I don't really have much else to say. This marks the actual beginning of the story, but right now, its really only Zoro and Perona. The others will make their appearances soon, I promise. Along with the ZoLu, but I still gotta build up to that...and everything else. Set the mood and whatnot. If there's anything in the fic that requires an explanation, it'll be on the bottom. Oh, and one more thing...like with all my other fics, there will be descriptions (you probably noticed that in the previous chapter). Please don't complain to me about them, 'kay? I like doing descriptions, its just a thing I do, so if you don't wanna read, don't. That simple. Now then, enjoy the show!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or any of One Piece's characters mentioned in this fic.
> 
> Warning: This is AU. Basically, all that remains are their names, faces, and a few personality traits, but other than that, the characters in this story are mostly OOC.

**Fourteen Years Later**

Roronoa Zoro had since grown up from the small boy who arrived in Ohara all that time ago and was now 21-years-old. He’s 5’11” and had shortish, slightly slicked back and messy light leaf green hair, hunter green eyes—with a vertical scar running down his left one that kept it permanently shut, tan skin, a brawny, athletic body, a massive stitched scar stretching from his left shoulder to right hip, and stitched scars circling either ankle; dangling from his left ear were three identical gold teardrop earrings and he now owned three katanas—the white one (Wadō Ichimonji) he’d had since he was six and then two new ones he acquired during Hunting missions with Mihawk: a dark reddish-brown one (Kitetsu III) and a black one (Shusui).

Kumiko Perona had grown up as well and was now 20-years-old. She’s 5’8½” and had butt-length bubblegum pink hair, usually kept at the back of her head in four spiral braids, with blunt bangs, big, round violet eyes, fair skin, and a slim, well-endowed, hourglass figure; lining her eyes was thick black eyeliner with mascara on her lashes, on her lips was red lipstick, on her fingernails was pink nail polish, around her left wrist was a pink wristwatch, and tattooed on her left bicep was a tiny pink bat.

* * *

“Ugh, I’m so _bored_ ,” a slightly high-pitched voice complained from the passenger side of a maroon red 1970 Chevrolet C10 Pickup. “And why is it so hot in here?” She leaned her head back on the seat and fanned herself.

“It’s not even that hot, Perona,” her green-haired companion snapped back, rubbing his forehead exasperatedly. “And no one said you had to come with me.”

“Who _knows_ where you would’ve ended up if I let you go alone.” Perona commented, ignoring the glare shot at her with practiced ease. “Why did you even go out in the first place, Zoro?” She rolled her head to the left to look at him. “We would’ve been fine on groceries for a little bit longer.”

Zoro rolled his one functioning eye. “If you had been paying _attention_ , you would’ve known that a huge storm is heading this way.” He quickly looked at her. “We don’t have the time to wait.”

“I _know_ a storm’s coming this way.” Perona said, rolling her head back over to look out the window. “I just don’t get why we had to almost buy out the store because of it.”

“I like to be prepared.” Zoro answered with a shrug.

“You’re just paranoid.” Perona shot back.

Zoro’s one hand clenched on the steering wheel in restraint before relaxing. “I just have a gut feeling we’ll need all this, that’s all.”

“And we all know how reliable your “gut feelings” are.” Perona said, though with less sarcasm than her usual statements. “Plus…”

“Plus what?” Zoro asked her, watching as her eyes lost focus before snapping his attention back to the road. He didn’t want to get lost—he could do without being teased by Perona about how directionally challenged he was… _again._

“ _Plus_ …the spirits are getting restless.” Perona continued, blinking rapidly to bring her focus back. “Something’s stirring _something_ up and it’s upsetting them.”

Zoro nodded, keeping a look out for the posts that’d signal the beginning of their driveway. “Now that you mention it, Wadō has been acting stranger than usual too. Keeps smelling the air, though nothing's there, and running around in circles.”

"Kumashi has been acting the same way.” Perona rubbed her bare arms. “I don’t like this, Zoro. Something feels off.”

“Stop worrying.” Zoro said, finally spotting the neon pink post and turning into the driveway. “Everything will be fine.”

Perona humphed. “Of all the times for dad to go out of town.”

“He has a job to do.” Zoro said, continually following the neon pink posts down the driveway; once it was discovered just how _bad_ Zoro was with directions and how often he’d get lost, Mihawk set up brightly-colored posts so Zoro would always know how to get home. “You know that.”

Perona just shook her head and went silent.

The truck finally broke through the dense trees that lined the driveway and in front of them laid their two-story, Queen-Anne estate home, located at the edge of town. Zoro followed the driveway around back and pulled into the garage, cutting the engine off shortly after. He gathered his katanas that had been resting beside him before hopping out and going around to the bed, pulling back the tarp and grabbing the groceries to bring inside; Perona followed a second after, grabbing what bags Zoro didn’t. As soon as Zoro passed by the laundry room and entered the kitchen, he heard a loud, happy _bark_ come from the upstairs before the _tip-tap_ of claws against wood was heard.

“Guess Wadō knows we’re back.” Perona said, plopping the groceries down on the island in the middle of the room.

“Well, someone has to greet us, since Kumashi can’t be bothered to.” Zoro teased with a smirk, to which Perona returned with a glare.

A second after they spoke did a white blob come barreling into the kitchen, heading straight to Zoro. Wadō was a Siberian Husky-looking dog the size of a small horse with pure white fur and bright blue eyes. Most would think a polar bear was barreling down at them when Wadō came running, but Zoro just planted his feet and took the weight as Wadō hopped onto her back paws to lay her front ones on Zoro’s shoulders. She wagged her tail excitedly as her tongue lolled out of her mouth, watching Zoro with happiness.

“Hey, Wadō.” Zoro said, scratching behind her ears. “Enjoy your nap?”

Wadō let out a happy bark, giving Zoro’s face a quick lick, before plopping back down on the ground. See, to most people, they’d look at Wadō and only see a slightly larger-than-average Husky and not think twice on it. To Zoro, however, he saw Wadō for what she truly was—an old and powerful Hellhound. Zoro rescued her awhile back from fatal wounds and Wadō instantly took to him, and now she stayed with the family, acting as their pet and guard. It’s almost the same story with Kumashi, though he’s a Hellcat, and hangs more around Perona, though one can never know with the finicky cat.

“Takes after her master, that’s for sure.” Perona commented, already unpacking the groceries.

Zoro just gave her a glare before moving to help her out, grabbing the things Perona took out and putting them away in their appropriate places—the refrigerator, the cabinets, the pantry; the alcohol, of course, went in its own special place. With the two of them working quickly and efficiently, they got through the large amount of groceries Zoro bought within half-an-hour; Wadō sat by the back door the whole time, happily watching the two of them, and Kumashi had yet to make an appearance. Once they finished, Zoro went up to his room quickly to change into some dark green sweats and running shoes before heading back down, passing by Perona—who was now spread out on a long white sofa as she watched TV in the great room—and heading to the covered porch, where Wadō was waiting for him.

Every evening, when afternoon gave way to night, Zoro and Wadō would go on a jog through the forest backing their home. Hellhounds needed an unsurprising amount of exercise, and Zoro’s just fine with that. It’s a great thing to do for cardio, and, of course, he’d always follow it up with his own training regimen. Zoro always liked to keep at the top of his form, always aiming to improve and get better. He followed behind Wadō as they set out, easily swerving around the trees and jumping over obstacles as they went. Running like this always cleared Zoro’s head and let him relax; he never had to worry about much when taking a run with Wadō.

Today, however, Zoro couldn't help but feel uneasy, like something was coming or going to happen. It was a feeling hanging in the air, and, like the upcoming storm, it was rapidly moving in. He tried to shake it off, but even Wadō kept looking around during their run, sniffing the air like she was trying to catch a scent that just wasn’t there.

 _We’re too distracted,_ Zoro thought to himself. _We need to head back._

“Wadō.” The Hellhound slowed to a stop and turned, looking up at Zoro. “Let’s head back. I don’t wanna be stuck out here when the storm hits.”

Wadō tilted her head before nodding and trotting around Zoro before looking back, waiting for him. Zoro grumbled, a red tint dusting his cheeks—even _Wadō_ knew how bad he was with directions. Rolling his eye, he followed behind her as they ran back to their house, reaching it within forty-five minutes. Lucky they did, too, for as soon as they entered the covered porch did the heaven’s open and the rain start pouring down. Zoro looked behind him with a brow raised before shrugging.

“Guess we were lucky to miss that.” Zoro commented to Wadō, who replied with a _woof_ of agreement.

Zoro yawned as he walked further into the house, really tired for some reason, before looking around for Perona. Since he didn’t see her, he’s guessing she went upstairs to her room for the night. Shrugging, he popped back into the kitchen for a second to grab a bottled water before making his way upstairs as well, going to the lounge area they converted into a work-out/practice room. Setting down his water and shrugging off his sweat jacket and A-shirt, Zoro walked over to the weight sets to begin his normal exercise routine.

After doing his usual sets of three-thousand each (in all his usual and unusual ways), Zoro wandered over to the pull-up bar that they installed and started doing chin-ups—only using one arm at a time and with his ankles crossed and legs bent at the knee. After he finished, he automatically dropped to the ground to then do one-handed push-ups before flipping around to start with sit-ups. Once he got through his usual amount, he walked over to the bench and grabbed his three katanas, unsheathing them before securing Wadō Ichimonji in his mouth and keeping Shusui in his right hand and Kitetsu in his left. After letting out a steady breath, he started doing his kata, moving through them one after the other with no hesitation or flaws, his movements fluid and powerful.

An hour passed by, the only sound being the steady swishing of the three katanas slicing through the air, and Zoro was drenched in sweat before he finally let his arms drop to the sides—careful not to bang the blades on the floor—before reaching up with his right hand to grab Wadō Ichimonji from his mouth. He let out a breath as he walked over to the bench to return his blades to their scabbards, before gathering them up and heading to his bedroom.

Wadō had already made herself comfortable on her side of his large bed and lifted her head to watch as Zoro secured his katanas in the holders above his bed—easy grabbing distance—before making his way to his attached bathroom, shucking off the rest of his clothes as he went. He took a nice, long shower, just letting the stream of hot water roll over him once he finished cleaning himself, before getting out, letting loose a wide yawn as he went. Zoro grabbed his boxers and a pair of sleep pants before finally making his way to his bed. Giving one last loving pat to Wadō, he clicked off the lights and pulled up the covers, drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Zoro jolted awake when a particularly large clap of thunder reverberated through the still air and he sat up in his bed like a shock went through him. Looking around, trying to get his bearings, it was then he noticed that Wadō wasn't next to him. Blinking his eye, trying to rid it of the last traces of sleep, he glanced around again, but didn’t see the Hellhound anywhere, though his door was now wide open. He slipped out of his bed, grabbing a sweatshirt from the end of his bed and pulling it on, before making his way to the door. Stepping out, he was slightly surprised to see Perona leaving her room as well, dressed similarly to him, and looking around.

“What's wrong?” Zoro asked the girl, voice still slightly hoarse from sleep.

Perona visibly startled from his voice before realizing it was only him and let out a breath. “It’s Kumashi. I woke up and he wasn’t sleeping next to me.” She twisted her hands nervously. “I looked through my room and can’t find him anywhere.”

“Wadō isn’t in my room either.” Zoro said, making his way into the hall. “Maybe—”

_Bark! Bark! Hiss! Maow!_

The two whipped their heads in the direction the sounds came from before looking at each other. Nodding, they ran down the stairs and headed in the direction of the covered porch, discovering the door that led to it was wide open and both Hellhound and Hellcat were sitting in front of the door that would lead them to the terrace. When they heard footsteps behind them, the two animals looked behind them to find their Humans approaching.

“Maow!” Kumashi sounded again, the large Toyger-looking cat pawing at the door before looking at Perona with wide amber eyes.

“What is going on with them?” Perona asked, dropping down to her knees to run a hand over Kumashi’s smokey gray, black-striped fur.

“Wadō?” Zoro questioned, looking at the Hellhound. “What is it, girl?”

“Woof!” Wadō answered, staring at the back door with a concentrated look as Kumashi continued to paw at it.

“Do you think they need to go out?” Perona asked, looking up at her green-haired brother.

“In this weather?” Zoro asked dubiously, watching through the windows as sheets of rain continued falling down, occasionally lit up by flashes of lightning and followed by claps of thunder. “I thought they’d be smarter than that.”

Both animals continued to paw at the door and _bark/maow_ , sounding urgent and impatient.

“Fine.” Zoro finally grumbled out, going quickly to the coat closet and grabbing two raincoats, throwing one to Perona as he shrugged his green one on before stepping into a pair of boots.

“Why do I have to come?” Perona complained, though pulled her own pink raincoat on and stepped into the rain boots Zoro kicked to her a second later.

“Kumashi’s your problem.” Zoro stated before finally opening the door.

As soon as it opened, both animals bursted out of the door, sprinting quickly before coming to an abrupt stop at the edge of the terrace and seemingly staring up at nothing. Both Humans pulled up their hoods before following the animals out, both instantly getting soaked to the bone the second they stepped outside. The animals, though, didn’t seem to notice they were getting drenched as they continued to stare up at the sky, heads cocked.

“What are you two staring at?” Zoro asked, stopping next to Wadō before following her gaze. “The only thing there is…the…”

“Zoro.” Perona breathed out, eyes wider than usual as she started up at the sky. “You see that too, right?”

“Yeah.” Zoro answered, watching as what looked like a streak of different-colored lights zipped across the sky, reds and grays and maybe some gold and silver. It certainly wasn’t a natural occurrence. But that wasn’t the oddest thing about the sky—to Zoro, it looked almost like a rip was starting to appear in the center of those colors, but that couldn’t be right.

“That can _not_ be natural.” Perona said, her voice both scared and amazed.

Zoro, though, could only focus on that crater, but before he could ask Perona if she could see it, however, the Hellhound and Hellcat both let out low, urgent sounds before taking off, heading straight into the forest. Zoro and Perona let out identical noises of shock and aggravation, trading disbelieving looks.

A flash of lightning lit up the sky before a shock of thunder sounded.

* * *

“What the hell!” Zoro finally shouted before taking off after the animals, Perona right on his tail. “What the fuck do they think they’re  _doing?!”_

“Don’t lose sight of them!” was the only thing Perona yelled before going quiet, the only sounds being their ragged breaths and the rain still coming down in buckets.

The two of them dodged past tree branches and over shrubs, roots, and other ground obstacles as they tried their best to keep up with their extremely fast Hell-animals. Their only saving grace was that Wadō and Kumashi were in their normal forms, therefore greatly restricting their speeds—had they been in their full forms, Zoro and Perona would had never been able to keep up. The darkness blanketing the forest was made even worse by the rain pelting down, making the already low visibility even worse and a few times Perona had to pull Zoro back to the right path when he’d start to wander off in the wrong direction.

The two continued to run after the animals, blind and wet, for who knew _how_ long, before they finally spotted Wadō and Kumashi coming to a stop up ahead. Zoro and Perona slowed down some, since the animals weren’t moving, before finally catching up, breaking through the tree-line to come to a stop in front of what looked like a huge ravine.

The two Humans doubled over at the waist, hands on knees, trying to catch their breaths and get their hearts back to beating at an acceptable speed when the animals then let out more low sounds before crouching and jumping, heading right into the ravine. Zoro and Perona froze when they noticed the action, stupefied.

“Did they just…” Perona said, trailing off in disbelief.

Zoro let out a loud groan before shouting, “What the hell do they think they’re _doing?!_ I am so _sick_ of this!” And with that, he jumped into the ravine as well, sliding down the side and barely missed tumbling down into the mud.

Once he made it to the bottom, he looked back when he heard a scream and saw Perona making her way down as well, eyes squeezed shut as she took the same route Zoro did. Rolling his eye, he moved to catch her before she ended up taking a mud bath.

Once her feet were on solid ground, she breathed out before looking up. “Thanks. Now, where did those two go?” She held her hand over her eyes, looking around, before grabbing Zoro’s arm. “There!”

Then the two took off to where the animals were, Perona keeping a firm grip on Zoro so he wouldn’t turn in the wrong direction, and pulled to a stop next to them. They then noticed that the animals were barely moving, staring at something on the ground that they couldn’t see thanks to the dark sky and rain. It was when the next bolt of lightning flashed that they finally saw what it was that Wadō and Kumashi were staring so intently at.

“Oh my god.” Perona gasped out shakily, her hand moving to cover her mouth in shock.

“What the…what the _hell?!”_ Zoro exclaimed harshly, eye wide in confusion. “Who the fuck are these people?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, there we go. Here are a few things: yes, Wadō and Kumashi are a Hellhound and Hellcat, respectively. They come from the Demon Realm, and like other Supernaturals, they have their full-on Hellhound/Hellcats forms and then the forms that resemble regular animals. Also, they have human intelligence, so they understand when Zoro/Perona talk to them, just can't answer back. Later in the story, I'll explain why they are in the Human Realm and living with the two Humans. Oh, and when Zoro looks at them with his Sight, he can see the "flames" that come off of them. Ok, here are some descriptions ('cuz I like giving them!):
> 
> Dracule Residence: A magnificent, finely wrought covered porch wraps around the impressive Victorian estate home. The two-story foyer provides a direct view past the staircase and into the great room with a large central fireplace. To the left of the foyer is a bookshelf-lined library and to the right is an octagonal-shaped dining room. The country kitchen boasts lots of workspace and a cooktop island. A pass-through connects this room with the bright, bumped-out morning room, also containing a corner desk. A butler's pantry, walk-in closet, and broom closet offer plenty of storage space. The master suite with stunning amenities: a huge bedroom that opens to the porch; a windowed sitting area; a see-through fireplace, and an amazing bathroom with enormous His and Hers closets and a whirlpool bath. Four uniquely designed bedrooms, three full baths, and a lounge with fireplace are located on the second floor.  
> \- Features: Queen Anne-Style; Country Kitchen; Fireplace; Formal Dining Room; Formal Living Room/Parlor; Great/Gathering Room; Office/Study/Den/Library; Rear Porch; Terrace; Split Bedrooms; Wraparound Porch; 5 Bedrooms; 4 Baths; 2 Half-Baths; 2 Stories; 3 Garage Bays
> 
> Zoro's Katanas:  
> \- Wadō Ichimonji: a suguha (straight), slender, single-edged, 29” black blade with a silver edge; a pure white tsuka-ito (hilt-wrapping) with gray samegawa, a golden elliptical tsuba (hand-guard), and a golden kashira (pommel) (with a small U-shape in the center of both sides); the saya (scabbard) is painted white with a golden kojiri (end cap)  
> \- Kitetsu III: a moderately curved, slender, single-edged, 29” black blade with a silver edge and a blue flame-patterned hamon (hardening line); the dark brown hilt is wrapped in reddish-brown leather rope with a golden clasp around its middle, a golden tsuba (hand-guard) shaped like a rounded cross pattée, and a golden kashira (pommel); the saya (scabbard) is deep red and has two golden clasps in short succession around its middle and a golden kojiri (end cap)  
> \- Shusui: a moderately curved, slender, single-edged, Kanemoto-style, 29” black blade with a lighter black edge and a distinct dark red reverse-wave hamon (hardening line); a black silk tsuka-ito (hilt-wrapping) with pale purple samegawa, a golden tsuba (hand-guard) that has flower-like edges, and a golden kashira (pommel); the saya (scabbard) is black with dark red circles split in even thirds from the opening to the bottom, a sage green (with white dots) sageo (cord) wrapped around the upper-part, and a golden kojiri (end cap)
> 
> Mihawk's Sword:  
> \- Kokutou Yoru: a 7', single-edged, black blade with a slight curve at the end and very strong sheen; a bandage-wrapped hilt with a golden cross-guard decorated by two sapphires and emeralds on the edges, four sapphires in the center, and a large sapphire over the pommel; resembles a large cross
> 
> Okay, another explanation: it's extremely hard to harm Supernatural Creatures (especially Demons/Fae), so only specially made weapons can hurt them, and the Hunters (usually) are the only ones known to own and employ these, as they're extremely rare. There are several types—projectile, blunt, and bladed being the most common; each weapon is referred to as "sacred", so the bladed weapons, for example, would be referred to as "sacred blades". There are also ones known as "cursed", which are weapons that were forged in the Demon Realm and brought over to the Human Realm. They actually do more damage than the "sacred" ones, but are extremely hard to maintain and handle; its said it takes a special person that the weapon itself has to choose.
> 
> Zoro has two sacred blades (Wadō Ichimonji and Shusui) and one cursed blade (Kitetsu III). Obviously, Mihawk also has a sacred blade (Kokutou Yoru), though his is far more powerful than Zoro's (for obvious reasons).
> 
> As for Hunters, I'm kinda making it that they're born as Hunters; think of it like Buffy in Buffy the Vampire Slayer series, though there's more than one. Since they're tasked with hunting down the naughty supernatural, they're made stronger and tougher than normal Humans, their senses raised as well. So, to someone with Sight, they'd look different—not quite Human, but not quite Supernatural (like the previous chapter stated).


	3. Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, one thing I'd like to add that I forgot to is that this takes place in the "modern day", so things like cellphones, laptops, cars, and the like exist. That's all I have to say, so enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or any of One Piece's characters mentioned in this fic.
> 
> Warning: This is AU. Basically, all that remains are their names, faces, and a few personality traits, but other than that, the characters in this story are mostly OOC.

_Previously..._

_"Oh my god." Perona gasped out shakily, her hand moving to cover her mouth in shock._

_"What the…what the hell?!" Zoro exclaimed harshly, eye wide in confusion. "Who the fuck are these people?!"_

* * *

Laying in front of them, under the disbelieving stares of Zoro and Perona, were five figures—three young men, one young lady, and what looked to be a large, furry animal with…were those _antlers?_ Zoro moved next to Wadō before dropping down into a squat to get a closer look at them, though it was hard with the lack of visibility the rain caused. What he _could_ discern, between flashes of lightning, was that none of them were dressed in any coats or hats or protection one would usually procure with a huge storm happening. It didn’t even look like they had umbrellas! Perona edged a little closer, standing right behind Zoro.

“Are th-they…” Perona swallowed down the tremor before asking again, “Are they still alive?”

Zoro reached a hand out to the closest figure he could make out and placed two fingers on what he thought was the neck; after feeling the steady thumping under his touch, he nodded, causing Perona to let out a relieved breath. Zoro reached over to the other shapes scattered around and also felt the steady thrumming of pulses going, signaling they were all alive. Soaked to the bone and unconscious, yes, but still alive.

Now, they were at a loss as to what they should do.

“Should we call someone?” Perona finally asked quietly, leaning over Zoro’s shoulder to try and get a closer look.

“How?” Zoro asked back, looking at her. “We didn’t exactly bring our cellphones with us.” He sighed out. “And even if we did, I doubt we’d be able to get a signal out here…or be able to use them in the rain.”

They looked at each other as they thought over their possibilities coupled with the facts at hand, and didn’t like the outcomes they came up with. The easiest solution would be to go back and get their phones, maybe call an ambulance, but leaving these strangers out here in the storm didn’t seem smart, or safe. Not to mention that the closest hospital to them was a little ways a way, two towns over, and who knew if an ambulance could even _make_ it in this storm. And using their truck was out, since there was no room to fit all of them, or even make it out to the ravine they were in through the forest.

“Where the hell did these guys even come from?” Zoro asked, laying a hand on Wadō’s back.

Perona ran a hand through her drenched hair, completely lost. “Could they be campers?” But that option didn’t seem likely, seeing as there were no campsites anywhere around here, nor did they even look like they’re dressed for a camping trip or have any of the equipment.

“Camping in weather like this would be suicidal.” Zoro commented, pushing himself into a standing position. “Even if there was a campsite near here, no one would have rented it out. This storm has been a few days in the making, so it wasn’t a sudden occurrence. Everyone around here knew that.”

They were out of options, minus one obvious one. But he wasn’t comfortable with it. Something was niggling at him that something was _off_ about this whole situation, the same feeling he felt earlier when he was running, and yet… He looked at Perona and could tell she was thinking the same thing as him.

Perona hugged herself as she stated, “We can’t leave them out here like this. Not in this weather. They’ll just get worse, and maybe even die.”

Zoro rubbed a hand over his face, considering his options. Bringing them back would be the humane option, right? He could tell Perona already made up her mind, but probably because she’s the one who could see the spirits, had heard the sad stories they carried with them, and the thought of letting people die who she could have easily saved didn’t sit well with her. He sighed out. Well, if they decided to start trouble, he’s confident enough he could protect himself and Perona. Plus, they had Wadō and Kumashi. They’d never let anyone harm them…and it was them who led the two of them to these strangers in the first place. Something tells Zoro that _wasn’t_ a coincidence.

“Okay.” Zoro said, looking at the pink-haired girl. “We’ll bring them back to the house. But _how_ to do that is the question.”

He, himself, could likely handle two of them, and, despite her appearance, Perona was rather strong, so she could probably grab one of them…but that still leaves one unaccounted for. And not to mention the deer thing.

Wadō and Kumashi moved out of the way some as Zoro walked closer to the strangers, bending down to grab the closest one to him. Perona moved up next to him, staring down at the group as well, biting her lower-lip.

“I could try to handle two of them?” Perona said uncertainly, looking over at Zoro.

“Not for the amount of distance we’d have to cover.” Zoro answered automatically, still thinking through options in his head.

Before they could come to any solution, however, one of the members of the group started moving. The two of them startled and Perona jumped back some as they watched the large deer start to move, unsteadily getting up onto its legs. Once it, _he_ —it did have rather large, branched-out antlers, so it must be male—looked like he found his balance, he moved his head up and eyed the two of them. Zoro’s muscles instantly tensed when he felt his nerves go on-edge; he didn’t know if this animal was a pet or wild, but it didn’t matter either way. Him and Perona were strangers, and that made the deer dangerous.

Zoro suddenly blinked when he saw something almost _shimmer_ around the deer’s form, but before he could examine that any closer, Perona was hitting his arm.

“What do we do now?” Perona whispered, staying still so she didn’t accidentally spook the deer.

The deer let out an angry sound, stomping his front hoof, but Zoro noticed it wasn’t them he was staring at, but at the person Zoro held in his arms. He looked down at the form, the stranger still only a faint outline in the rainy night, before back up at the deer.

Perona noticed it as well. “Zoro, put him down.” She laid a hand on his shoulder, gripping harshly. “The deer—” the two jumped when the deer let out another angry sound, but Perona continued, “—he seems protective, so put him down. _Now_.”

But Zoro was nothing if not stubborn. “Why should I? We’re trying to help them. If we leave them, they’ll probably die, right? So whether he likes it or not, these guys are coming with us.” Zoro didn’t know where that came from, but he’s sticking to it. It felt right. His instincts were telling him not to back down here, that he _needed_ to help these strangers, and he _always_ trusted his instincts—they’d been honed over the years, from his time on his own and then through strict training.

The deer, apparently, didn’t like that statement because he let out an angry snort and started pawing the ground again, shaking his head around and waving those wicked-looking antlers. He was probably a second away from charging.

Perona’s hand clamped down harder on Zoro’s shoulder, frightened, but they didn’t need to worry for long. Faster than a streak of lightning, both Wadō and Kumashi planted themselves in front of Zoro and Perona, respectively, crouched down and made low, growling noises. Wadō and the deer were roughly the same size while Kumashi was just a little smaller than both, so they weren’t in any real danger but Perona made a surprised noise anyways.

“Kumashi!” Perona exclaimed, looking ready to move forward.

“Don’t.” Zoro hissed out, shaking his head. “Look.”

They watched, in amazement, as the combined force of Wadō and Kumashi actually caused the deer to back up a few unsteady steps, looking warily at the two other animals. Zoro and Perona waited a few more seconds, but the deer did nothing more than glance from side to side and paw the ground, not making any more aggressive actions.

Zoro smiled with pride. “Good job, Wadō.” The Hellhound looked behind her and let out a happy _woof_.

Perona dropped to a crouch next to Kumashi and scratched his head. “Thanks, Kumashi.” The Hellcat rubbed his head into Perona’s touch happily.

“Well, now that he doesn’t look ready to attack, let’s grab the others.” Zoro said, looking over at Perona. “We need to get them out of this rain.”

She nodded, moving forward some and searched for the slimmest-looking form before sliding one arm underneath a pair of shoulders and her other underneath the knees. Once she spread her feet, Perona pushed up and steadied herself before nodding at Zoro that she was okay. Looking down, she felt long hair trailing against her side and saw the faint outline of curves, so she surmised that she grabbed the female stranger.

“I can get one more of them, but I don’t know what to do about the last one.” Zoro said, glancing down at the forms still laying on the floor.

They then watched, in bemusement, as the deer shuffled forward some before nudging one of the forms on the ground and then looked up at Zoro. He repeated the gesture several times before Zoro finally got what he was doing.

“He wants to carry one of them.” Zoro said and the deer gave a nod, giving Zoro a look that seemed to call him an idiot; ignoring that (how could a deer even _make_ that expression?), he placed the one he was holding back on the ground and shuffled forward carefully, still wary, before lifting up the form the deer was nudging and placing it on his back. “There you go.”

“Well, that takes care of that problem.” Perona stated, rearranging the woman in her arms again.

“That it does.” Zoro grunted as he reached down to pick up the remaining two forms, slinging the both of them over his shoulders like sacks of potatoes, but it worked. “Now, the only problem left is how the hell to get out of here.”

Just then, Wadō came running back to them, barking happily and wagging her tail before turning and taking off in, what looked like, a random direction, Kumashi right behind her.

“Seems Wadō has our way home.” Perona said, letting out a sigh. “Let’s just follow her. I want to get out of this damn rain.”

Zoro nodded in agreement and, with one last look around the ravine, the two of them, plus the deer and their cargo, followed after the Hellhound, neither noticing how the colors they saw earlier started flashing wildly before blinking out completely.

* * *

To say Zoro and Perona were exhausted would be a  _massive_ understatement of epic proportions—Perona had long since lost feeling in her arms and both of Zoro’s shoulders were sorer than they had ever been before. The only good thing to happen was that the storm started dying out, the heavy downpour turning into a light rain shower that cleared up some of the clouds, allowing the moon to finally shine through and illuminate their path. It took longer to get back than it did to get there, but when they finally exited the forest and saw the back of their house, they let out loud sounds of relief.

Wadō nudged open the already partially-open back door and the other two gratefully made their way to it, heading through the covered porch and into the great room. Perona deposited the one in her arms onto the long sofa while Zoro slid the two from his shoulders onto the ground, the two shaking out their sore muscles immediately after, stretching some. Perona then called out that she was going to go get them some towels and dry clothes before leaving the room, Kumashi following behind her, while Zoro looked behind him, not at all surprised to see that the deer followed them in and was now looking at him. Not in the mood for words, he walked over to the deer, too tired to be cautious, and grabbed the one from his back and laid it down next to the others.

The floors were sopping wet now, but he could _not_ of cared less; they’re just lucky Mihawk was out of town or he’d be livid about the state of things. After giving the deer a stern look that conveyed _don’t destroy anything_ , he walked into the kitchen before dropping down into one of the bar stools lining the octagonal island. Wadō made a questioning noise in the back of her throat before sitting and resting her head on Zoro’s lap, Zoro moving his hand to run through her fur, but still stayed quiet. Maybe ten minutes passed by, Zoro almost falling asleep where he sat, before he heard the sound of Perona making her way down the stairs, and then, a second later, fabric was being thrown at his face.

“Get out of those clothes before you catch a cold.” Perona ordered, herself already in dry red sweatpants and a black tee. “I’m going to go check on our guests.”

“Guests.” Zoro snorted before doing what Perona said, pulling off his sopping sweatshirt and throwing it on the ground, then shucking off his boots and sleep pants. He then pulled on the gray sweatpants Perona grabbed followed by the white t-shirt and, he had to admit, being in dry clothes _did_ improve his mood slightly.

“Feel better now?” Perona asked a few minutes later when she walked into the room, heading over to the stove and grabbing the kettle. After she filled it up with water, she set it back down and turned on the stove, allowing the water to boil.

“Fan-fucking-tastic.” Zoro grumped out, flickering his glance over to Kumashi when he jumped up onto the island. “How are they?” He ran a lazy hand down the Hellcat’s back, noticing that his fur was also a lot drier, so he figured Perona gave the Hellcat a rubdown with a towel.

Perona turned and leaned against the counter. “I dried what I could and by what I can see, none of them are severely hurt.” She crossed her arms. “We won’t know more until they wake up.”

Zoro nodded and they lapsed into silence, Zoro staring out the window at the dwindling storm while Perona contemplated her nails. Several minutes later, the tea kettle started whistling, jolting the two out of their thoughts as Perona turned off the stove and picked up the kettle, placing it off to the side. She then reached up into the cabinets above and pulled down two mugs, followed by two teabags; grabbing the kettle again, she poured the boiling water over it and then placed it back before grabbing the mugs and placing one in front of Zoro. He started some at the noise before nodding his thanks, waiting for the tea leaves to steep.

“I wonder what they were doing out there.” Perona said, seemingly to herself, as she drank her tea and stroked Kumashi, staring at nothing.

“Nothing normal, that’s for sure.” Zoro muttered anyways, taking a sip of tea and letting out a pleased noise because the tea was really warm and felt good.

“Here, I brought these down too.” Perona said, gesturing to the blankets she placed at the end of the counter. “I figured we weren’t going to leave this area.”

Zoro snorted but nodded in agreement. After finishing his tea, he headed to the master bedroom (Mihawk’s room) and grabbed one of the large armchairs from the sitting area, dragging it to the corner of the great room, next to the loveseat that was already there.

“I’ll take this.” Zoro said, plopping down onto it and grabbing the blanket Perona offered to him.

“This wasn’t some weird dream, was it?” Perona asked quietly, dropping down onto the loveseat and wrapping her own blanket around her. Kumashi jumped up a second later and onto the back cushions, stretching out above her.

“As much as I want it to be, no.” Zoro answered around a yawn, head already resting on the back of the chair. “Go to sleep. We’ll see what happens in the morning.” Wadō twirled herself around before settling in front of the armchair, right at Zoro’s feet.

“‘Kay.” Perona said, yawning as well. “Night.”

Zoro just grunted back, already feeling his consciousness fading away. His last thought was of the weird flashes he’d seen surrounding the strangers as they carried them back before sleep finally claimed him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And, that's a wrap. Let me know what you think! There's really nothing for me to explain in this one, soooo...yeah. Until next time! XD


	4. Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't really have anything to add here, but there will be some info at the end of this, so for right now...enjoy! Well, actually, one thing: everybody (except when I introduce Franky, and obviously Brook) are based on their post-timeskip appearances. That's it! Now you can enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or any of One Piece's characters mentioned in this fic.
> 
> Warning: This is AU. Basically, all that remains are their names, faces, and a few personality traits, but other than that, the characters in this story are mostly OOC.

“Zoro.”

Something sharp broke through his consciousness, but he pushed it away, too tired to care.

“Zoro!”

Now it was sharp _and_ loud, but he still didn’t wake.

“Zoro!” followed by a _slap_.

“OW!” the green-haired sleeper shouted as his eye immediately opened. “What the hell do you want?!” It sounded like he was talking with gravel and sand in his throat.

As his mind switched from sleepy to awake, he noticed how _hot_ he was, like he was burning from the inside out; his head was throbbing as well, and his throat felt like someone cut it up before pouring lemon juice down it. Unfortunately, he knew what that particular sensation felt like; Mihawk could be extremely… _creative_ with his training when he put his mind to it.

“Zoro.” His brain finally caught the frightened edge in Perona’s voice and looked up at her, eyebrow cocked in question. _“Look.”_

Zoro followed her pointer finger before he blanched. Something in his mind finally kickstarted, waking him up instantly, but he still just stared at the sight in front of him. It seemed the deer thing was awake, but now he looked…really different. Definitely different. And he wasn’t the only one awake—it seemed the woman decided to join the land of the living as well.

But that’s not what had Zoro stumped.

He blinked. He blinked again. He did it repeatedly before everything finally clicked into place and he dropped his head back, letting out a loud groan that instantly morphed into a coughing fit. Of course. Of fucking _course_. Now he realized what it was he saw last night after the storm cleared up—the thing that tickled the back of his mind the whole way back that he ignored since he was so damn _tired_ —because now he saw it, loud and clear, surrounding the two beings in front of him—flashes and sparkles that looked like fireworks exploding in the sky; he could finally comprehend what it was now that he’d had some sleep and the morning light was filtering through the partially-drawn curtains, giving the room some faint light from the windows. His Sight was telling him this same exact thing last night, but since it was in its “Passive” mode, the only thing it could tell him was that these people were _not_ Human, but that’s about it. Yet he still ignored it. Stupid! _Stupid!_

“They aren’t Human, are they?” Perona finally whispered to Zoro, hand gripping his bicep tightly.

Zoro just shook his head.

The deer thing that came back with them had…transformed, for lack of a better word. He was now a humanoid-looking creature, a good three or four heads taller than Zoro, covered in the same golden tan fur as the deer form, and with the antlers (though there’s a metal plate bracing the left antler at the base they didn’t see last night), but he’s now standing on two legs, and instead of hooves, there were feet and hands, and around his neck was a thick, pale sandy-colored ruff; weirder still was the fact that the nose was _blue_ and he’s wearing a hat—a sky blue bubble cap that had a ring of dots around a light pink circle with a white sideways “x” in the center, a thick light pink bill, and a pair of buckles hanging down—and a pair of dark maroon shorts.

Now, the woman was a different story. To regular people, she appeared to be young and rather beautiful, nothing too strange about her. She stood maybe an inch shorter than Perona and had wavy, hip-length hair the color of tangerines with choppy bangs and two chest-length strands framing her face, burgundy-brownish eyes, fair skin, sharpish canine teeth, and a slender, well-endowed, hourglass figure; around her left wrist was a gold bracelet, in her ears were pale lavender pearl studs, and covering her left deltoid was an indigo tattoo that might represent some sort of pinwheel and maybe a tangerine at the top. She’s dressed in what looked to be a short, tattered orange dress and was barefoot while some kind of brown band was circling her right upper-thigh, holding three short, cyan blue metal tubes of some kind.

Zoro lifted his head back up, blinked the rest of the sleep from his eye, and finally switched to Active Sight. The deer thing looked the same as before, since he's already pretty odd-looking to begin with—the only thing that remained were the flashes surrounding him. But the woman…Zoro could see her clear as day now. Sticking up from her hair were upright, triangular, dark orange-furred ears, her eyes were glowing and more burgundy with vertically oval pupils, the canines of her teeth were extremely sharp and a bit longer, her fingernails looked more claw-like, and sticking out from under her dress, lazily making figure-8s, was a long, bushy dark orange-furred tail tipped with white. But that's not the only thing he saw as his gaze wandered down to the still-unconscious ones, just to confirm his suspicions.

 _Great,_ Zoro let out another groan, again followed by a coughing fit.

“Quit doing that!” Perona scolded, lightening her grip on his arm and looking at him with concern.

Zoro ignored her as the truth of what, exactly, they brought into their house with them hit him. Hard. Like several bricks to the face.

“Demons,” Zoro muttered. “We went and brought fucking _Demons_ into the house.”

“What did you just say?” The two snapped their heads over when they heard a voice, not their own, speak, seeing that it was the orange-haired woman who did so.

Zoro let out a sigh as he pulled himself up into more of a sitting position and looked between their two awake “guests”.

“I have no doubt you just heard what I said.” Zoro said, throat still killing him, but ignored it. “But I’ll repeat it anyway. I _said_ I can’t believe we brought _Demons_ into the house.”

Perona’s eyes opened in shock as she looked between Zoro and the strangers while the other two just stared at Zoro in confusion.

“What are you—” the orange-haired woman started, but was cut off by Zoro.

“To be fair, he’s,” Zoro pointed to the deer creature, “not a Demon. I’m guessing a Shifter, given that you came into here in a different form than this one. But the rest of you…yeah, definitely Demon.” Zoro’s gaze locked with the woman’s. “You, in particular, are a Kitsune.” He smirked. “You’re the first one I’ve ever seen in person, actually.”

The woman looked close to having a fit while the deer creature stared at him in disbelief.

 _“How?!”_ the woman finally screeched out. “I’m in my Human form!”

Perona looked away from Zoro to the woman. “That may be true, but you can’t hide from someone with the Sight.”

**. . .**

“You!” she exclaimed, pointing at Zoro. “ _You_ have the Sight?!”

“Didn’t she just say that?” Zoro said rhetorically before he started coughing even harder.

“Dammit, Zoro, stop doing that!” Perona exclaimed before moving her hand to rest on his forehead and hissing. “You’re burning up! You got sick, didn’t you?!”

“I’m just fine, Perona.” Zoro grumped, even as his voice sounded otherwise.

“I can’t take it!” the deer creature finally exploded, causing everyone (awake) to look at him in surprise—Zoro and Perona from the fact he could _talk_ and the orange-haired one that he actually talked at all.

“Chopper, what are you doing?” the woman asked plainly.

“This idiot’s sick, Nami, and he’s doing everything he can to make it worse!” Chopper, apparently, said, pointing at Zoro.

“Who the hell are you calling an idiot!?” Zoro shouted, though regretted it when he started coughing again.

“Stop talking!” Chopper shouted.

“I will not take orders from a talking, shifting deer!” Zoro said, crossing his arms stubbornly.

“ _Rein_ deer!” Chopper yelled. “I’m a _rein_ deer, dammit! Why does everyone get that wrong?!”

The Kitsune, _Nami_ , just shrugged.

“Deer, reindeer, doesn’t matter!” Zoro said, shaking his head. “I’m just fine either way.”

“You are _not_ fine!” Chopper said, stomping over to him and laying a hand over his forehead, despite Zoro’s struggles. “You are running a high fever and coughing and you sound like your talking through glass shards. You have a cold.”

“Do not.” Zoro stated.

“How the hell did you manage to get one?” Nami asked, head cocked to the side.

Zoro’s one eye narrowed into a glare that he leveled at the woman. “Saving _your_ dumb asses in the middle of a torrential rainstorm!”

Nami blinked in surprise. “Oh. Is that how we ended up here?”

Perona nodded her head.

“Hm.” Nami said, looking around the room, but said nothing else.

“Get off me!” Zoro shouted as Chopper tried to hold him down, brandishing a thermometer he got from…somewhere.

“Not until I take your temperature!” Chopper yelled back, struggling to keep his grip on Zoro.

Perona merely blinked before getting out of the way, moving to stand near the back door—she didn’t want to be in the middle of…whatever that was. She then heard a few scratches at the door and looked down, eyes widening some when she saw Wadō and Kumashi sitting in front of it, staring back up at her. She had forgotten she let them out earlier since they kept sniffing at the strangers and she didn’t want the two disturbing them. Should she let them in or…

Her thoughts were cut off when, after a particularly loud shout from Zoro, another head popped up, this time from the floor, and started looking around.

“Breakfast time? Where’s the meat?” he asked, blinking sleepily as he looked around before his sleepiness quickly morphed into confusion. “Where am I?”

Nami looked down at the ground in surprise before a smile lifted her lips. “Luffy! You’re awake!”

Perona blinked before following the Kitsune’s gaze and looked over this “Luffy”.

He looked to be around her height and had mediumish, messy raven black hair with choppy, sporadic fringe, chocolate brown eyes, light tan skin, and a lean, muscular body; he also had two visible scars: a horizontal scar with two stitches underneath his left eye and a large X-shaped burn scar over his chest. He’s dressed in some sort of red long-sleeved top—that’d been ripped down the center—and black pants, and hanging from a chin-string over his shoulder blades was a straw hat with a red ribbon circling it. She briefly wondered what Zoro would see if he looked at the guy…

Before anything else could be said, however, Nami’s happy expression quickly turned into a truly frightening one as she stomped over to the ravenette before harshly bashing him over the head.

 _“Ow! Nami!”_ the boy whined out, grabbing onto his head, though his actions were more of someone who was used to this treatment.

“We’re in the _Human Realm_ , you moron! How the hell did we end up here?!” Nami shouted, fists propped on her hips as she stared the ravenette down.

Luffy blinked owlishly at her before scratching the side of his nose and simply saying, “Don’t know.”

Nami’s face turned a dangerous shade of red before she screamed out in aggravation and threw her hands in the air, turning away from him—no one noticed how some of the lights flickered with her rage. “I don’t know why I even _bother_ anymore!”

“Shishishi.”

Nami whirled back around. “This isn’t a laughing matter, Luffy!” She then pointed at Perona. “These people risked their lives bringing us back to their home, and they didn’t even know who we _were!”_

Zoro finally wedged his legs in between him and Chopper, planting his feet on the Shifter’s stomach, before pushing, sending him flying back into the opposite wall.

“Finally.” Zoro groaned out, shaking out his arms; he’s going to have bruises later thanks to the harsh grip the reindeer had on him.

Nami then moved her finger to Zoro, who blinked back at her in confusion. “And he’s sick because of it!”

Luffy followed her finger, but when his gaze landed on the green-haired guy, he froze, his heart and breathing stopping almost completely. A feeling, one he had never felt before in his life, gripped him tight as thoughts started whirling so fast through his head that he couldn’t even begin to decipher them, and before he knew what he was even _doing_ , he was whispering the ancient mantra beneath his breath; the power of the spell started to swirl inside him before the feeling of something inside of him splitting in two occurred, and that’s when he let that collected energy go, feeling half his soul leave him and headed toward the green-haired one, the bond sealing immediately once it was done. Zoro flinched when he felt something hot and almost sharp sting the area between his hip and lower-back, on the right side. But before he could investigate it further, or get a good look at the new awake one, the stupid Shifter was coming back at him, still waving around that damn thermometer.

“I said keep that thing away from me!” Zoro grunted, giving Chopper one hell of a glare.

“Would you stop acting like a child, Zoro!” Perona called out, walking over to the porch door to finally let in Wadō and Kumashi. “He’s just trying to help.”

“Help my ass.” Zoro said, still glaring. “I’m just fine!” The coughing fit he went into after disproved his statement.

“Idiot.” Perona muttered, opening the door and stepping back when the Hell-animals came zooming in.

Kumashi did a surveying lap around the room before gracefully jumping up and landing on the fireplace mantle, sitting right next to Perona’s head while Wadō…well, she could see Zoro was distressed, so she did what she thought was right: she immediately got in between Zoro and the threat, crouching down and letting out a low warning growl.

Perona giggled, reaching a hand up to pet Kumashi. This should be interesting.

“Wadō,” _cough cough_ “calm down. Everything’s” _cough_ “okay.” Zoro said, still hacking up a lung.

Chopper had backed away as soon as he saw Wadō—still remembering last night—while Luffy merely looked at the animal with curiosity. He looked at Wadō, then at Zoro, then back down, then over at Zoro, then back down at Wadō.

“What _are_ you doing, Luffy?” Nami finally asked, rubbing her temples.

“Uh…I wanna ask a question but you told me never to say our true selves aloud in front of Humans.” Luffy said, blinking innocently.

Nami rolled her eyes; trust him to listen to her _now_. “Don’t worry about these two, Luffy. They know.” When Luffy looked at her, wide-eyed, she merely pointed at Zoro. “That one has the Sight. He can see our true selves regardless.”

“Ahh.” Luffy said, banging his left fist in his open right palm. “That’s why you guys have a Hellhound and Hellcat.”

Zoro just nodded, feeling really sleepy, but fighting off the feeling all the same. Again, he’s very stubborn.

Luffy could see this happening and, not wanting him to suffer (though no idea _why_ he felt this way), he sighed out before squinting his eyes in concentration and suddenly flaring them open, sending out a short burst that directly hit Zoro and knocked him out immediately; he was too weak to fight it, which was what Luffy was hoping for, ’cause he didn’t think it’d work otherwise. Wadō looked behind her, letting out a low whine at Zoro’s state, before looking back up, growling again. Luffy did the same thing again, causing the Hellhound to stand down or risk being overwhelmed.

Luffy smiled and walked passed her, patting her on the head. “Good girl.” He then turned. “Chopper! Come get him now. He should be more cooperative.”

Chopper looked at Luffy with confusion before rushing over; he could question the boy later. He stuck the thermometer (finally) in the Human’s mouth before moving to scoop him up, looking back at Perona a second later. “Where’s his room?”

“Up the stairs, first door on the right.” Perona said, now heading to the kitchen. “I’ll bring up a bowl of water and a washcloth.” Zoro didn’t seem all too worried about these people, even if they _were_ Demons, so Perona wasn’t going to worry much until Zoro lets her know otherwise.

After a look from Luffy, Nami walked over to the pink-haired girl. “Let me help.” When Perona looked at her questionably, she added, “It’s the least we could do.” Perona shrugged and then the great room was empty, save Luffy and Wadō; Kumashi had followed behind Perona.

“So, what _is_ a Hellhound doing with a Human?” Luffy asked, moving to sit down in front of Wadō, indian-style. “It can’t just be because he has the Sight. It takes something very special for a Hellhound to imprint on a Human.” He looked in the direction the girls went. “A Hellcat too. At least, that’s what Ace told me once.” He looked back at the Hellhound. “So, what happened?”

Wadō cocked her head before leaning it down, inviting him to place his hand on top; she recognized who this boy was the moment she felt his power, so she had no doubt he understood what she’s asking him to do. Luffy pursed his lips in contemplation before doing what the Hellhound asked of him. After placing a hand on her head, he closed his eyes and let himself be drawn into the memory Wadō was pulling up. The memory of the day she met Zoro…

* * *

**Four Years Ago**

_The Hellhound let out a low whine as she dragged her tired, beaten body off into some bushes, immediately changing into her “regular dog” form so she wouldn’t draw any attention. She couldn’t go home, not now, not after killing nearly every single Hellhound her stupid cousin sent after her, as well as said stupid cousin. She let out another whine, resting her head on her front paws. She didn’t even **want** to be the next Head of Family; it wasn’t her fault she was the oldest, nor that she’s female—which was really the whole problem. She turned her head to lick her wounds some; she’ll plan her next move once she heals up. It seems staying in the Human Realm was her smartest (and only) option right now._

_“Shit.” The Hellhound’s head popped up when she heard a deep voice some feet away from her hiding place. “Where the hell am I?” A deep groan. “I got lost. Perona’s never gonna let me hear the end of it.”_

_There was some leaves crunching and the sound of branches being pushed back before the noises ceased immediately. The Hellhound remained still, not wanting to be discovered; she’s in no shape to protect herself and who knows what this stranger will do to her? Not all people in this Realm are bad, but the stories she had heard were enough to make her cautious._

_“What are you doing here?” the voice sounded from above her._

_The Hellhound twisted her head to look up before letting out a low warning growl that tapered off into a whine as her movements agitated her wounds. The green-haired Human stopped at the sounds, pausing slightly before moving forward again, shifting the bushes to get a better look at her._

_“You don't look so good.” The male muttered, eyes wandering over her body._

_She let out another growl, but it sounded weak, even to her._

_“Why aren’t you healing already?” the man asked, squatting down next to her. “Hellhounds have fast recovery rates, or so my dad tells me.”_

_She blinked, looking at the Human in shock. She’s in her “normal” dog form, yet he knew she’s a Hellhound. Did that mean…_

_The male must have noticed the confused look on her face—yes, she can make an expression like that—because he then said, “I have the Sight, so I can tell you’re a Hellhound.” He reached a hand out, but stilled when she let out another growl. “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna hurt you.”_

_The Hellhound gave him a scrutinizing look before laying her head back down, giving him permission._

_He then moved his hand down and laid it gently on her side. He sifted through the fur, carefully feeling out the bumps, bruises and gashes along her body, stilling every so often when she’d let out pained noises. After some time passed by, he removed his hand and rocked back onto his heels, head cocked as he studied her._

_“The wounds **are** healing, but slowly. Very slowly.” He pursed his lips. “You were attacked by another Hellhound, weren’t you?” She nodded very slowly. “I thought so, but seeing as you’re here and still alive, I’m guessing you won that particular fight, huh?”_

_She let out a proud_ woof _._

_He chuckled. “I like that. You’re strong, I can tell that by the strength of the flames covering your body. Old, too.” He sighed. “Since you can’t talk, that’s about all I can tell about you. I’m Zoro, by the way. I didn’t mean to stumble on you, but I got a…bit turned around when I was heading home and ended up here. I guess it’s a good thing, though.”_

_She lifted her head up some to look at him before her eyes glanced at the sky quickly. Oh great, it’s about to…_

_“Ah, hell.” The male, **Zoro** , groaned as the sky opened up and it started pouring. “That’s just fantastic.” He glanced down at her, studying her, and seemed to come to some kind of decision before removing his jacket and laying it over her._

_She lifted and craned her head back, ignoring the pain that action caused, and gave him a confused look._

_“I can’t leave you here.” Zoro said, his tone basically calling her stupid. “I’ll bring you back to my house and have my dad look you over.” He spread his feet before slipping his arms underneath her, pushing himself up while cradling her in his arms. “You can take your time and heal. After you’re better, you can do whatever you’d like.”_

_She let out a whine, the shifting causing her injuries to throb, before looking up at the Human. He’s really going to help her? Bring her somewhere safe and warm? She didn’t have the luxury of questioning it, nor could she fight back, but something inside her told her this man meant her no harm. She finally let out a long breath as her eyes slipped closed, slipping into unconsciousness._

* * *

“I see.” Luffy said as he removed his hand from her head. “He saved you, brought you back with him, and because of it, you imprinted on him.”

Wadō looked up at him before nodding.

“And now you protect him.” Luffy finished. “After what happened to you, I’m not surprised that you wouldn’t wanna go back to the Demon Realm.” Luffy tilted his head in curiosity then. “Did something similar happen with that Hellcat too?”

Wadō nodded.

“Interesting.” Luffy murmured, eyes straying over to the stairs that Chopper disappeared up a little more than an hour ago.

_Bark!_

Luffy’s gaze switched back to the Hellhound, eyebrow raised. “What was that?”

Wadō narrowed her eyes some before letting out several _barks_ , but to Luffy, he could understand what the Hellhound was saying like she was speaking normally to him.

“You could tell that already?” Luffy asked, a little surprised. “The scent aura shouldn’t have taken hold for at least a few more hours.”

Another _bark_ , this one sounding slightly insulted.

Luffy let out his signature laugh. “Yeah, I guess you’d have better senses than most others.”

Wadō let loose another string of barks, this time sounding slightly demanding and maybe a little protective.

Luffy sighed, wrapping his arms around his legs before resting his chin on his bent knees. “I don’t know how it happened, or why. I just felt this need grip me when I looked at him. Before I knew it, I was casting the bonding on him.”

Wadō’s eyes narrowed as her head cocked, studying the Demon in front of her.

“He now owns half my soul and doesn’t even know it.” Luffy said, almost self-deprecatingly, before letting out an unhappy grump. “The bonding is supposed to be done by two people who know what’s going on, so that the soul transferring is done by both. Having it this way makes everything unbalanced.” Luffy cocked his head thoughtfully. “Well, that’s what Shanks told me once. I didn’t think I’d ever _use_ the bonding, so I didn’t really pay much attention when he was telling me about it. Shishishi.”

Wadō was still studying him, trying to figure him out, before finally concluding this Demon was no threat to Zoro. She’d never heard of a bonding done without both parties talking extensively about it before going to a private location to cast it, but it seemed it could happen. Plus, with _this_ particular Demon and his…position in the Demon Realm, anything was possible, she guessed. So, she gave out another series of _barks_ , these a lot more friendlier.

Luffy gave her a slightly surprised look before a wide smile overtook his face. “Really? You’re okay with it?”

Wadō just gave him a stern look before another _bark_.

“Shishishi. I won’t hurt him. I don’t think I _could_ , to be honest.” Luffy said, head tilted, before saying, “He called you Wadō, right?” She nodded. “That’s a nice name. Mine’s Luffy.”

A _bark_ , a bit condescending.

“Well, given how old and powerful you are, I’m not surprised you know who I am.” Luffy sighed out. “And you know who my Family is, right?”

A confirming _bark_.

“Right, right.” Luffy nodded, propping his chin on his fist. “And you’re still okay with the bonding thing, even knowing all that?”

Wadō just looked at him.

“Yeah, I guess there’s really no choice, huh?” Luffy glanced at the stairs again but immediately jolted when a head nudged his side. “What?” he asked the Hellhound, confused.

Another nudge, followed by an encouraging _bark_.

“You want me to go upstairs?” Another _bark_. “To Zoro?” A confirming _bark_. “Okay, okay. I’m going.” Wadō nudged Luffy’s side again. “Stop pushing!” Luffy laughed, giving the Hellhound a smile before springing to his feet, heading over to the stairs.

Wadō laid down onto the ground, closing her eyes. She’d give the Demon some privacy for right now, but then she’d go up there in a little bit to check on Zoro. Wadō had a feeling she’d end up really liking this Demon, regardless of who he _actually_ was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, there you have it. We met Nami, Luffy and Chopper (again), and you got some background on Wadō.
> 
> Okay, as for the bonding...when a Supernatural "bond" with someone, half their soul is literally given to that person, and in return half of that soul goes back (so each one has half-and-half soul made up of both parties). The half of soul "blankets" over the "bondee" (for lack of a better term), covering them with the scent and letting others know this one has been claimed, called a scent aura. On the body of the "bondee" a mark appears, which is the "bonder's" initials, looking kind of like a scar or raised fleshed, you can't really see it unless you look for it, and an identical one appears on the "bonder" when the "bondee" returns their half of the soul. If the "bondee" is a human (or has a "normal" lifespan), that human will stay alive until the "bonder" is dead. It usually happens when both parties agree to it before going to a secluded location and casting the age-old mantra that needs to be said to start the process (no one really knows what the words are in the mantra, just know to use it), the "bonder" starting it by giving their half of soul over before the "bondee" finishes the mantra and returns their half of soul.
> 
> Oh, and Luffy can understand what Wadō is saying because he has the ability to hear the "Voice of All Things" (like in the show). He can do that with all different things, and only one other person had it before him, which is Gol D. Roger. The whole "Family" thing will be explained in the next chapter, so be patient. Oh, and Robin will make an appearance finally! Well, that's it for now! Please let me know what you think.


	5. Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, here's the next one. Like promised, Robin finally makes her appearance. There's something quick I want to add and its that this fic doesn't start out overly ZoLu, but the further into the story, that will change. It'll be a slow-build kind of thing. Well, that's it for now. I hope you like!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or any of One Piece's characters mentioned in this fic.
> 
> Warning: This is AU. Basically, all that remains are their names, faces, and a few personality traits, but other than that, the characters in this story are mostly OOC.

Luffy headed up the stairs, passing by Chopper as he headed back down, giving Luffy nothing but a stern look before rounding the corner and disappearing from his sight. His eyes lingered after Chopper for a second before shrugging and going up the rest of the stairs, walking a short distance down the hallway until he was standing in front of a half-opened door. Breathing out, he slowly pushed it the rest of the way open as he took a step in, glancing around the room.

It was a long, octagonal room painted a pineview green with dark wood floors, a fluffy aubergine rug placed in the center of the room, and three windows, covered by tomato red curtains, on the far wall, across from the door (where he was standing); a long, dark blue plum leather sofa was positioned underneath the windows, against one of the side walls was a king-sized bed, covered by a green potion bedspread and sheets, with the dark iron-framed headboard resting against the wall, and across from the bed was a chest of dark wooden drawers where a large flat-screen TV rested on top of it. Little knick-knacks and photos were spread throughout, but it was mostly neat and tidy, save a few dirty clothes littered here and there.

Luffy walked further inside, kicking the door shut behind him absentmindedly, his gaze now riveted on the three swords resting on the wall above the bed. _He’s a swordsman?_ Luffy wondered to himself, coming to a stop next to the bed. His eyes then flickered down, to where Zoro was currently laying, moving from the unconsciousness Luffy put him in to restful sleeping, and let his eyes study him.

Shortish, slightly slicked back and messy lightish green hair over a squared face, with a straight nose, stern mouth, strong jaw, and he remembered seeing that he had green eyes ( _eye_ ) when he was conscious; there was also three, gold dangling earrings in his left ear, seeming to match the three katanas he spotted a minute ago. Below his face was a broad neck that went down to broader shoulders and a tall, extremely muscular body. Luffy sucked in a deep breath, feeling his heart speed up slightly just from the sight of him.

 _He’s really handsome_ , Luffy thought suddenly, a smile stretching across his face.

His smile then widened when he felt a sense of comfort envelope him, the feeling of being away from half his soul tapering away. But before he could relax fully, however, he had to be sure the bonding stuck, or complications would arise.

Reaching forward, he took ahold of the fluffy comforter pulled up around Zoro’s neck and started peeling it back, letting it rest at his knees before leaning back to study his well-built form. Shaking off that distracting thought, he reached his hand forward, hovering over Zoro’s chest, before letting his mind shut off as he allowed his soul to guide his movements, trying to find the mark; it took a few seconds, but his hand finally rested around Zoro’s hip, though shifted more to the back before finally stopping. Letting his fingers drift down, he pushed the shirt up out of the way before pulling down on the waistband of his sweats slightly, squatting down to get a better look.

“There you are.” Luffy whispered, a soft smile on his face as he spotted the slightly raised flesh, mimicking a scar, that bared his initials in elegant script— _MDL_.

His fingers twitched forward, landing on the mark and lightly stroking over it a few times. He let out a shuddering breath when he felt the answering call in his very own soul, this mark being the place where the half of soul he gave Zoro actually entered him. It’s the area that connected them, _bound_ them, so, with this proof, Luffy was now one-hundred percent certain he casted the bonding over this Human…but he still had no freakin’ clue as to _why_ he even did it. It was driving him insane! And once it’s discovered just what he did…and to a _Human_ , no less…

Luffy shivered in fear at the thought of Nami’s reaction. The orange-haired Kitsune scared him like nothing and no one else…except maybe his grandpa.

He retracted his hand from Zoro’s flesh quickly, letting the clothes settle back into place, before reaching down to grab the comforter, but paused when a thought occurred to him. He let the blanket slip from his fingers once more and pulled the waistband down again, staring at the mark contemplatively, before an idea flickered in his mind. Wanting to do what he could, he leaned down even further, swallowing to wet his suddenly dry throat, before placing his lips lightly over his initials. Closing his eyes—trying to ignore the weird tingles now spreading through his chest and gut—he breathed a stream of air onto the mark— _into_ the mark, hopefully aiding in speeding up the Human’s recovery time. If what Nami said was true, Zoro got this way saving them. He had to do what he could to help. Plus, he really didn’t like seeing the Human like this…and, like the recurring theme of the day, he had no idea _why_ he was feeling that way.

Luffy finally tucked the comforter back around Zoro’s shoulders and smoothed it down, glancing over his face as he did so, studying it. Before he even knew what he was doing, he had laid his hand on the side of Zoro’s face, his thumb coming up carefully to stroke over the raised scar tissue marring his left eyelid. _What happened_ , he wondered. _What would cause such a severe wound that he’d lose complete usage of that eye?_ Luffy leaned down, a sudden urge gripping him, and placed a light kiss on the scar before moving to rest his forehead just underneath Zoro’s chin, on his chest, and just breathed, taking some odd comfort in the feel and scent of the Human. He also knew that he didn’t want to move or leave, not just yet. He found his lips slowly stretching into a smile as he listened to the comforting sound of Zoro’s heart beat underneath him, letting his eyes drift shut in contentment; everything about this Human made him feel strange, but also really happy. If you listened closely, you could probably hear him start to purr.

* * *

Nico Robin—looking the same as she did the day she met Zoro, though currently wearing an ocean blue turtleneck sweater with slouchy sleeves, orange booty shorts, and light tan sandals with her hair thrown up in a messy ponytail—looked up at her old house with curiosity, and maybe some apprehension. She knew she wasn’t reading the signals wrong, she’s certain of that…just as sure as she was last night when she first felt them. If it wasn’t for the storm, she’d had already been at the house. She supposed she’s rather protective of both Zoro and Perona.

“Demons, hmm?” Robin hummed to herself, glancing around again. “I wonder what their business is here.”

Seeing as the powerful wards set up around the house hadn’t been activated, the Demons were let in by someone who lived on the property. So that meant neither one of them were in danger or trouble, but she couldn’t know that for sure until she checked it herself. Smiling lightly, Robin made her way over to the oak double-front door, pausing to consider her options, before simply knocking on the door. She heard a shout of someone that sounded like Perona from the inside followed by footsteps making their way closer to the front door before it was swung open, showcasing someone who was definitely _not_ the pink-haired Medium.

“Hello.” Robin said calmly, eyes roving over the orange-haired woman in front of her before inhaling discreetly, but deeply. _A Kitsune. She must be one of the Demons I sensed._

It seemed the Kitsune did her own scent test of her, because her eyes suddenly widened before taking a step back. “You’re a Vampire.” Her hands then curled into fists. “What is your business here?”

Now, technically, Vampires were classified under Demons and do live in the Demon Realm, but Vampires didn’t have allegiances to anyone but themselves; they were the gray area in the largely black and white world Demons view themselves to be in. Vampires were finicky, self-serving creatures, so Supernaturals—especially Demons—found it hard to trust them.

Robin tilted her head. “I don’t believe I have to explain myself to you.” She smirked. “Unlike you, my dear, I am not a stranger.”

“Nami, who are you—” Perona cut herself off when she walked into the foyer, a smile lifting her lips when she saw who was at the door. “Robin! What are you doing here?”

Nami looked between the two, but stepped back, allowing the Vampire to enter. “You know this woman?”

“Yeah. Basically my whole life.” Perona said with a giggle. “This is Robin. She’s a close friend.”

Robin waved her hand in a friendly manner. “How do you do?”

“But she’s a Vampire.” Nami said, still confused.

Perona blinked. “Yeah, I know that.”

“Where’s Zoro?” Robin asked Perona, looking around. She didn’t see Zoro, nor his Hellhound, anywhere, but after peeking over Perona’s shoulder, she could see Kumashi prowling around before disappearing into another room and out of sight.

“He’s resting right now,” another voice said as they came down the stairs. “Who are you and why are you in this house, Vampire?”

Robin moved her gaze to the stairs, curious at the protective, yet strangely commanding, tone she could hear present in the voice, but froze when she caught sight of _who_ it was that spoke. Her eyes widened the tiniest bit, but for someone who had such excellent control over their emotions like Robin, that little was a lot. She was dumbstruck and awestricken at the same time, not emotions she was familiar with feeling. She didn’t want to believe it, but there’s no way this boy could be _anyone_ else.

“Nami?” Luffy asked, looking over at the Kitsune as the Vampire did nothing but stare at him.

“This is Robin, Luffy.” Nami answered, but gave the Vampire a weird look. “She’s a friend of Zoro and Perona’s.”

“Really? A Vampire?” Luffy questioned, glancing over at Perona as his bare feet finally made contact with the marble of the foyer floor.

Perona nodded. “It was Robin’s mother who actually started this town, so its Robin’s territory now. Like I told Nami, I’ve known her basically my whole life. Zoro as well.” Perona looked over at the black-haired woman, but raised an eyebrow when she saw Robin’s face. “Robin, you okay there?”

“You.” Robin finally said, voice soft as she continued staring at Luffy. “What would someone like you be doing in the Human Realm?”

Both Nami and Luffy looked sharply at Robin, faces showing their surprise.

“What are you talking about?” Perona, however, was lost.

“Do you know just _who_ it is you two have brought into our home, Perona?” Robin asked the girl, though her eyes never left Luffy.

Ignoring the _our home_ part, Perona shrugged. “Demons, right? Zoro already saw that.”

“That isn’t incorrect, but that also isn’t what I meant.” Robin said softly, slowly pushing the front door shut before leaning against it.

“How could you _possibly_ know that?” Nami asked, nerves evident in her tone, as she glanced between Luffy and Robin. “You live in the Human Realm. There’s no way for you to know that information or even what he _looks_ like.”

“Know _what?”_ Perona said with a huff, resting her fists on her hips. “Somebody tell me, right now, what the hell you guys are talking about!”

“Him.” Robin said, nodding at Luffy. “He isn’t just a regular Demon, Perona.”

“Okay…” Perona said slowly, still not getting it.

She turned her gaze back to Luffy. “What _I’d_ really like to know is just what one of the Demon Princes is doing in the Human Realm.” Her head tilted. “Why are you here, Monkey D. Luffy?”

Perona froze as her eyes widened, head whipping to stare at Luffy.

Luffy’s eyes met Robin’s, but her gaze didn’t break from his, which was highly unusual; usually nobody could keep their eyes locked with his—or any member of his Family—for too long. Just who _was_ this Vampire?

“What do you _mean_ by Demon Prince, Robin?” Perona asked, her voice nothing more than a whisper, as she stared at the Vampire.

Robin moved her gaze to the girl. “Exactly that, Perona. His father is the current King of the Demon Realm.” She crossed her arms primly in front of her. “His Family, known as the D. Family, have ruled the Realm for several millennia. They’re Archdemons, a breed of extremely powerful higher-level Demons who are always born a D. and always with some sort of special power and extraordinary abilities.” She tilted her head in thought. “Now, there are several D. Family lines, but the strongest of them have always been the Gol D.s and,” she looked over at Luffy, “the Monkey D.s. The two have ruled side-by-side, a Gol and Monkey always on the throne, but because of the death of the last King, Gol D. Roger, Monkey D. Dragon is the only King at the moment until the next generation is ready to take the throne.”

Nami and Luffy were looking at Robin, eyes wide and jaws slack, completely speechless.

Perona, however, was nodding in understanding. “I see.” She then looked over at the two Demons, shock turning into amusement as she hid a laugh; she remembered the feeling well of being overwhelmed by Robin’s sheer _knowledge_ of many different subjects. “Don’t mind Robin.” They looked over at her. “She loves learning things, and history and culture are her favorites. If there’s something to learn on a subject, Robin will do so. It’s just who she is.”

Robin giggled before glancing over at Luffy again. “So, little prince, what _are_ you doing here? I doubt your Family would be happy to know you’re in the Human Realm.” Her tone was now curious more than anything.

“I don’t know.” Luffy finally answered, scratching the back of his neck. “We didn’t even _plan_ on coming here.”

“What do you mean?” Robin questioned, curiosity turning to confusion.

“It’s a long story.” Nami said, rubbing her forehead before looking around at everyone. “Perona and I were just about to make breakfast, so why don’t we do that and we can tell you everything then.”

Robin nodded, smiling. “That sounds good.” She then looked at the stairs. “You said Zoro was resting.” Luffy nodded. “Why? It’s too early for him to be taking one of his naps.”

“He’s sick.” Perona said, already heading back to the kitchen. “Caught a cold when we brought these guys in last night.”

Perona disappeared from sight before Robin could question _that_ , so after giving one last look at the Demons, she was suddenly gone from sight, using her Vampire speed to ascend the stairs and enter Zoro’s room quickly. Once she came to a stop next to Zoro’s bed, her nose wrinkled at the scent overlaying Zoro’s own. She’d known the boy for nearly fifteen years, so she knew that something had changed with Zoro’s scent. Lightly sniffing again, trying to differentiate between the various smells, she suddenly inhaled a sharp breath and reeled back when she finally could place it.

_No, that can’t be possible._

Robin’s eyes quickly scanned Zoro’s form before using her own special power to sprout a disembodied arm from the bed next to Zoro’s hip and pull back both the comforter and then Zoro’s clothes, eyes finally resting on what she feared she’d find.

_MDL_

“Has the scent aura settled that quickly?” Luffy’s voice questioned from the doorway.

The arm she sprouted disappeared quickly into a flurry of peach petals before she pulled the blanket back over Zoro in a motherly fashion. She didn’t know quite what to say yet, so she didn’t respond. Remembering that Perona said Zoro was sick, she rested her hand over Zoro’s forehead, but was surprised to find that the fever had already broken. He shouldn’t be getting well this quickly, not unless…

She finally turned around, facing the Prince as he leaned against the doorframe, watching her in turn. “You have bonded with him?”

Luffy pursed his lips, eyes dropping to floor in what Robin thought was guilt. “Kinda.”

“Kind of?” Robin asked, slim eyebrow raised. “You can’t _“kind of”_ bond with someone.”

There was a silent pause that went on for several moments with the two just staring at each other, neither moving or even breathing.

“He only has _my_ half of soul.” Luffy finally replied, arms crossed over his chest tightly.

“Explain.” Robin simply said.

Luffy sighed, letting his arms drop. “I didn’t mean to do it. It just…kinda _happened_. I looked at him and…before I knew what I was doing, I was already saying the mantra.” His eyes then looked back up at her, almost desperately. “I don't _know_ what happened!”

To say Robin was stunned would be an understatement. _It happened again._ Robin studied the distraught Demon in front of her and could see he truly didn’t know what’s going on. Just like the last time, a bonding was cast without either soul having a say in the matter. Like someone had some bigger plan, or that these bondings were simply _meant_ to happen, one way or another.

“Robin?” Luffy questioned, a little meek, as the Vampire stayed silent for several minutes, thinking things over.

Robin saw how the boy was almost close to tears, and she finally sighed out, knowing she couldn’t let him suffer like this. “This isn’t the first time something like what you’re describing has happened.”

Luffy’s eyes widened as he bounced closer to her. “Really? When? How? Who?” He got closer with every question until he was nearly on top of her, looking up at her like an overexcited puppy.

Robin nodded, not even phased. “It was not too long ago, maybe about forty or so years, and it happened not too far from here actually.” Luffy nodded, still paying attention. “It was between a Demon and a Human…well, a Hunter, more specifically.” She had a faraway look in her eye, remembering. “He told me that the Demon told him exactly what you just relayed to me about this. The two of them just met eyes and suddenly the Demon had cast the bonding.” Robin tilted her head in consideration. “I’m guessing _he’s_ living with only half a soul as well.”

“You know that guy it happened to?” Luffy questioned, bouncing on his toes.

“Very well.” Robin said, glancing around. “He’s the current owner of this house, actually.” Robin then looked at Luffy with a smirk. “As well as Zoro and Perona’s adoptive father.”

Luffy’s jaw dropped as he backed up a few steps. “He’s Zoro’s _dad?”_ Then it hit him. “Wait. His dad’s a _Hunter?!”_

Robin nodded, an amused look on her face. “Yes, a very good one. You’ve might of heard of him. He goes by the name of Hawk-Eye.”

Luffy froze ‘cause, yes, he _had_ heard of that name before, but not for the reasons Robin’s thinking of…well, yes, that way as well, but more from a certain _person_.

“Hawk-Eye?” Luffy questioned, wanting to make sure. “That’s his name?”

“Well, his real name is Mihawk, but yes, that’s his Hunter name.” Robin said, studying the young Prince in front of her; something was going through his mind right now.

“Do you know the Demon who bonded to him?” Luffy asked, expression extremely serious.

“I do.” Robin said. “Would you like to know who it is?” She had a feeling this was what’s on his mind right now.

Luffy just nodded.

Robin hid a giggle. “If my information is correct, you know him fairly well.” Luffy cocked his to the side in question. “His name is Shanks. Shanks Le Roux.”

 _I knew it_ , Luffy thought to himself, not even that surprised. Sometimes, when Shanks didn’t think he was around or paying attention, he’d hear his red-haired mentor muttering something about _Hawk-Eye_ or sometimes even saying _Mihawk_ ; the mutterings were usually followed by angry words Luffy could barely catch before ending with Shanks pouting. So did that mean Shanks did to Mihawk what he just did to Zoro? Something then occurred to Luffy and he looked at the Vampire again.

“How did you know I’m close to Shanks?” Luffy asked, hand resting on the straw hat Shanks gave him.

Robin just smiled, wondering when he’d ask. “There are two Families that are under the D.s in terms of strength, power and influence, am I correct?” Luffy nodded slowly. “One of those Families is the Le Rouxs. Shanks, as the current Head of that Family, lives with the D.s in the palace. I’ve heard it’s customary for that to happen.”

Luffy just blinked at her, completely stupefied. “ _How_ do you know all this, Robin?” His eyes then narrowed in suspicion. “You can meet and keep my gaze when others can barely look at me and you have a special power, the one I saw when I came in. Dammit, I can _sense_ the power you have stewing around inside of you! Just _who_ are you?”

“Oh dear. I suppose I didn’t fully introduce myself earlier. Quite rude of me, I apologize.” Robin then smiled sweetly at the Prince, taking a step back to drop into a (mocking) curtsey. “My full name is Nico Robin. A pleasure to meet you, your _Highness_.”

Luffy’s heart just about stopped beating. “ _Nico_ Robin? Did you just say _Nico_ , as in—”

“The other powerful Family beneath your own, yes.” Robin said, straightening back up.

“But that can’t be possible.” Luffy said, still looking at Robin with wide eyes, before narrowing them. “How old are you?”

“About 3,000-years-old now.” Robin answered him, wandering past him and leaving Zoro’s room—they needed to let the poor boy rest. She stopped at the railing that overlooked the foyer, leaning her arms on it.

“Too young.” Luffy muttered to himself, shaking his head before he followed her out. “I didn’t know Oran had a kid.” He glanced over at Robin, who watched him patiently as he walked over to her.

“Oran is not my father.” Robin confirmed, a small smile playing on her lips.

“Then who is?” Luffy asked, leaning on the railing next to her. “He’s the only Nico left alive.” He gave Robin another look before saying, “Well, as far as we knew, anyways.”

Robin rested her chin in palm while glancing over the foyer floor. “Oran had an older sibling, did he not?”

Luffy whipped his head back over to stare at the Vampire, eyes wide, not believing what she was saying. “No way.” He shook his head. “She’s been considered missing for…” Luffy trailed off, trying to think.

“Probably about 3,000 years.” Robin finished for him, looking back at him. “That would be about the time my mother came to the Human Realm.”

Luffy honestly couldn’t believe it. “Nico Olvia is your _mother?”_

Robin nodded, a nostalgic smile on her lips.

Luffy shook his head, a little bit stunned. When Shanks would tell him about the history of the Demon Realm—and he would actually pay attention, since it was Shanks telling him—he had brought up the Nico Family a few times, given that they were at the same power level as Shanks’ own; he also wouldn’t miss this little smile Shanks got whenever he mentioned Olvia, like he was thinking about some happy memory. There were also times that he’d go with his dad or his brother to visit the Nico estate, but the Vampire who lived there always looked really out of place as the Head of the Family, but Luffy could never understand why he thought that way. It was one day that he, in sheer boredom, started poking around the place—while his brother was discussing something with Oran—and happened upon a room that had originally been locked, but then laid slightly cracked. With his natural curiosity, he went inside and saw there had been a bunch of stuff inside it, like someone just gathered up all of someones items and shoved them inside the room, out of sight. After searching through the room, he finally found a portrait propped up against a wall, one of a beautiful woman with sky blue eyes, defined features, and her hair the color Luffy associated with snow.

Glancing Robin over again, Luffy could physically see the Vampire was not lying; she looked like she could’ve been the woman in the portrait, only with black hair. Now he understood why he never saw Oran as the Nico Head, because he truly _wasn’t_. That title must had belonged to his sister before she…left. And it was _Robin_ who now should be the Head, but since no one knew she even _existed_ , the wrong had never been righted.

Finding curiosity getting the better of him, Luffy finally asked the Vampire, “Why did she come to the Human Realm?”

“She was pregnant with me.” Robin said, gazing off to the side. “My father was a man she didn’t wish to marry, because all he was interested in was the Family name, so when he pushed the issue, coming close to violence, my mother fled the Demon Realm, telling no one, and came here. She didn’t want to shame the Nico name and knew her brother would be fine to run the Family.” Robin smiled softly. “Once I was born, she, over many centuries, built this town, setting us up here. We were happy, the town slowly becoming populous and most didn’t even care we were Vampires. They saw us more as protectors than anything else.”

“What happened to her?” Luffy asked softly, head cocked.

“I don’t know how, but my father finally found her.” Robin said, hands squeezing the railing tightly before relaxing them again. “A group he brought with him attacked her, trying to force her to come back, but she fought them, killing each and every one of them, _including_ my father.” Swallowing down her unsettled emotions, Robin went on. “She made me hide in a crawl space as soon as she caught the scent of him coming this way. He never knew she had gotten pregnant, and my mother wanted to keep it that way. I would have been forced back to the Demon Realm if it was discovered my mother gave birth and she didn’t want that for me. Didn’t want that _life_ for me.” She laughed sadly. “Too be honest, neither did I. She had told me about her past as soon as I was old enough to understand it, knowing I needed that knowledge for obvious reasons. When I turned 1,000, she actually gave me the option of returning back, but I declined. My life was here.”

Luffy felt bad for bringing up these memories for Robin. “Sorry, Robin. I did—”

Robin held up her hand, cutting him off. “Don’t apologize. This is probably something you should know.” She took a calming breath, trying to remember where she left off. “Like I was saying, my mother battled a large group of Demons by herself, and she won, but sustained fatal wounds in the process. She died several hours later and so now here I am.” Robin glanced around the house, nostalgia now alighting her eyes. “This was actually the house I grew up in. My mother built it herself from the ground up.”

Luffy’s expression turned confused. “Then why don’t you live here anymore?”

Robin sighed. “Too many memories, I guess. It sat vacant for many more decades before Mihawk came, drawn here for some reason. I let him have the house and before long, Zoro joined and then Perona.”

The two looked at each other for a moment, lost in thought, before a shout broke through.

“Food!” Perona yelled up.

“Food!” Luffy shouted in excitement, instantly getting happy again. “Finally!”

Robin giggled. “Yes, let’s go eat.” She placed a hand on his shoulder, causing him to look back at her. “Then you can tell me _exactly_ what brought you here, little prince.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, there you have it. I hope you liked it. I don't think I need to explain anything here, given that I explained everything that needed explaining in the story. I kinda hope I told Luffy and Robin's family background sufficiently enough. I felt I did, but I never know. What makes sense in my head might not make sense to y'all. But, as always, if you have questions, let me know! I'm already working on the next chapter, so it should hopefully be up soon. And, just for your information, there are two more Demons going to make an appearance soon (Sanji and Usopp), they just haven't woken up yet. Everything should make sense soon, so wait and see! :)


	6. Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter time! Sorry for the wait...and I really don't have anything to add, since the fic does that itself. Just read! Also, I might not be able to update for a week or two 'cause of school and work and such. I'm really sorry, but, well, life happens. I hope you like!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or any of One Piece's characters mentioned in this fic.
> 
> Warning: This is AU. Basically, all that remains are their names, faces, and a few personality traits, but other than that, the characters in this story are mostly OOC.

“Let me get this straight,” Perona said, the four of them—including Wadō and Kumashi; Chopper was upstairs tending to Zoro—sitting in the morning room right off the kitchen, eating the breakfast she and Nami prepared. “You, basically, _fell_ into our Realm?”

Nami swallowed before nodding. “That’s right. We were exploring a part of the forest _that we weren’t supposed to be in_ ,” she glared at Luffy, “and I suddenly felt the air around us change. I didn’t like it, but before I could tell the others, we heard this kind of…ripping sound below us.”

“Yeah!” Luffy said enthusiastically, still stuffing his mouth. “And then we were all falling into this really dark mystery crack.” He swallowed. “Next thing I know, I was waking up here!”

Robin nodded, taking a sip of coffee. “You probably lost consciousness from the sudden fall through the portal.”

“Portal?” Perona asked, looking at the black-haired woman.

“Yes, a portal.” Robin said, setting her mug down. “Do you remember when I told you that there are many different Realms in existence?” Perona nodded. “Well, the portals are how the residents of those Realms travel between the different ones, but,” Robin looked to the side, out a window, “there are certain _rules_ that apply to the traveling depending on which Realm you are traveling _from_.”

“Rules?” Nami asked—she didn’t know about any rules.

Robin nodded lightly. “The Demon Realm doesn’t really have any rules applied to it. If you can open a portal or find one, you can travel through it, though it _will_ close once it’s been used.”

“What about here?” Luffy asked, now sitting back in his chair, stomach full.

“Trickier.” Robin said, tapping a slender finger on her chin. “Certain… _lunar_ conditions must be met to be able to open a portal.”

“Lunar?” Perona asked, curious. “Like what?”

Robin leaned her head forward, hair falling around her like a curtain.

“Robin?” Perona called out, confused at her friend’s unusual behavior.

Nami, though, understood. “We’ll be stuck in the Human Realm for awhile, won’t we?” Robin looked up at the Kitsune and Nami could see the answer in her eyes. “How long?”

Robin blew out a breath, sitting back up. “For a portal to be opened in the Human Realm, a total lunar eclipse needs to occur.”

“So?” Luffy asked, confused. “What’s so special about that?”

“They only happen about twice every year.” Perona answered, finally understanding the gravity of the situation.

“When is the next one?” Nami asked, looking at the Vampire.

Robin tilted her head in thought before answering, “Not for another four months.”

Luffy blinked slowly, looking between the girls, before it all finally hit him. “Wait! You mean we’re _stuck_ here for four months!”

Robin nodded solemnly. “I’m afraid so.”

“There’s no other way to open one before then?” Perona asked, looking at the distraught Demons with sympathy.

“No,” Robin answered, shaking her head slowly. “It simply isn’t possible.” She then rested her elbow on the table before placing her chin in her palm. “But this isn’t what has me concerned.”

Perona moved her gaze over to Robin, barely noticing when Kumashi jumped into her lap and settled there. “What’s wrong, Robin? I’ve never seen you this troubled before.”

Robin sighed before finally stating, “I don’t think any of this was an accident.”

“What?” Nami asked, beyond confused, while Luffy merely stared at her with head cocked to one side.

Robin drummed the fingers of her other hand on the table. “From what I have gathered, I can’t help but think someone _deliberately_ opened that portal so you would fall through it.” She paused, rethinking something, before correcting herself. “No, that’s not completely right. It was opened with the sole purpose of sending _Luffy_ through.” Her eyes flickered to Nami. “You and your other friends were…collateral damage, let us say. The main goal was to get Luffy into the Human Realm.”

“But _why?”_ Perona asked, hand absentmindedly petting Kumashi. “Why go through all the trouble?”

Robin laid her cheek in her hand now, gazing at Luffy sadly. “Why else would anyone want to send one of the Demon _Princes_ to the Human Realm, where he’s out of the protection of his Family with only a few friends to help him?”

Perona’s eyes widened as understanding hit her.

“To kill him.” Nami breathed out, features horrified, as she finally put the pieces of the puzzle Robin already saw together. “Someone wants to _kill_ Luffy!”

But Robin shook her head, confusing the Kitsune. “I don’t believe so, not right now, though his death _is_ certainly the endgame.”

Nami just plonked her head onto the table, suddenly exhausted and definitely exasperated.

“What do you mean, Robin?” Perona asked, taking pity on the poor Kitsune.

Robin tapped her chin thoughtfully before looking to the side. “Luffy?” The ravenette looked at her. “Have you ever heard of the legend called “Death of D.”?”

Luffy pursed his lips. “It sounds familiar.” He cocked his head. “I think I remember overhearing Ace and Shanks talking about it once.”

Robin then leaned back into her seat, crossing her legs primly. “It’s an age-old tale that has followed the D. Family for…for longer than even _I_ can say. The origins of it has been lost to time as well.”

“What is it?” Nami asked, curious. She’d never heard about it.

The Vampire tilted her head in thought. “Well, to be frank, there is not just _one_ version of this tale, many different ones have popped up every century or so, but each one has the same basis to it.”

The others nodded, eager for her to continue; Kumashi was now sitting propped on Perona’s lap, front paws lying on the table, while Wadō was situated next to Luffy, listening to the conversation going on raptly.

Robin blew out a breath. “If one were to kill a member of the D. Family, one would be able to… _obtain_ their strength and powers.”

“Obtain?” Perona questioned, eyes wide with curiosity.

“Like I said earlier, the D. Family is made up entirely of Archdemons, and those types are one of the most powerful Demons to exist.” Robin said, eyes lingering on Luffy. “However, what makes the D. Family _truly_ special are the powers they possess.”

Perona then cocked her head as something occurred to her. “Like you, Robin?”

Robin giggled. “Yes, a little like me.” _But not completely that._

“Wait.” Nami said, slamming her hands on the table, rattling the empty plates and silverware. “ _You_ have a special power? How?” Then she shook her head before pointing at Robin. “And how the hell do you know so much about…all of this?!”

“Her full name is Nico Robin.” Luffy answered, leaning back in his chair so it balanced on two legs. “She’s a Nico, Nami.”

Nami sputtered, eyes wide as she looked at the Vampire. “You mean _that_ Nico? But, I didn’t know Oran even _had_ children!”

But Robin shook her head. “I was not sired from Oran.”

Nami just blinked at her, totally lost.

Robin smiled at her confusion before stating, “My mother was Nico Olvia.”

“But that’s not possible!” Nami screeched out, slamming her hands down on the table once more. “Nico Olvia has been missing for nearing three millennia now!”

“That’s how old Robin is.” Luffy answered, now rocking back and forth on the balanced legs. “Her mom came here, had Robin, and never returned.”

Nami took a deep breath to calm down; everything about the situation they’d gotten themselves in had stressed her out, making her overreact to things that normally wouldn't make her scream like this.

“And it’s not missing anymore.” Luffy stated, but looked over at Robin, who just nodded her agreement. “It’s dead.”

“Nico Olvia is dead?” Nami asked in astonishment before looking over at the Vampire. “And _you’re_ her only living heir?” When Robin merely nodded, Nami finally relaxed in her chair, seeing the slight look of sadness in her eyes. “I see. I am so sorry for you loss, though.”

“Thank you.” Robin accepted with a small smile.

“And no one from the Demon Realm knows you exist?” Nami had to ask.

“No.” Robin shook her head. “My mother severed her ties with the Realm as soon as she came here. She had no wish of returning.”

“And you?” Nami questioned, head tilted.

“I don’t wish to return either.” Robin stated firmly. “My life _is_ and has always _been_ here.”

It was silent for a few moments after that declaration.

“Wow.” Perona finally spoke, looking over at her friend. “I remember you telling me some about your past, mostly things concerning your mother, but I didn’t realize it was so complicated or that you were even such a big deal.”

“The Nico Family is ranked under mine in terms of power and influence.” Luffy answered, still rocking back and forth in his chair.

“To be honest, they’re probably the most powerful Vampires to ever exist.” Nami supplied, resting her chin in her hand. “Easily outclassing all the others.”

“And, like me and my Family, they have really cool powers too!” Luffy exclaimed before laughing.

Robin giggled in turn.

“What special power do you have?” Nami questioned the Vampire.

Perona, after shooing Kumashi off her lap, got up and started clearing off the table, heading over to the sink since she’d already seen Robin’s special gift.

Robin looked over at the Kitsune before crossing her arms in a X over her chest and concentrating; a second later, two disembodied arms grew out of Luffy’s shoulders and grabbed onto the straw hat dangling from the chin-string and plopping it onto his head before they disappeared into a flurry of peach blossoms.

“Holy shit!” Nami screeched, eyes wide in surprise. “Those were…were…you grew _arms_ out of Luffy!”

Robin smiled, letting her arms drop back down. “I did.”

“Can you only do that with your arms?” she asked, head tilted as she shook off her awe.

“No.” Robin said, leaning back some. “I can make copies of any body part I possess on any surface I wish…within reason, of course. It’s rather handy to have.”

“I bet.” Nami muttered, studying the Vampire with interest.

“What about you, Luffy?” Perona asked, closing up the dishwasher and wiping off her hands. “You said you have a power as well.”

Luffy, letting his chair settle back down onto four legs, grabbed onto his cheek and yanked it until it was stretched _way_ past normal limits. “I’m a rubber man!”

Both Perona and Robin froze at that.

“Yeah, I know.” Nami said, slapping Luffy’s hand so he’d let his cheek go. “It takes a minute to get used to.”

“When you say _rubber man_ …” Perona said, taking a seat on one of the barstools and petting Kumashi, who had jumped up onto the island.

“Is the _entirety_ of your body made of rubber?” Robin asked, looking extensively fascinated.

“Uh, yeah.” Luffy said, head tilted. “I think.”

“It is.” Nami confirmed, nodding. “His outer and inner body are completely rubber.”

“Even, say, his organs?” Robin questioned.

Nami nodded again. “Even those. He also has most of the properties of rubber.” Seeing their confusion, she added, “For example, he’s immune to electricity.”

“Ah.” Robin nodded in understanding. “Rubber is a poor conductor so it makes sense.” She then looked at Luffy again, a secretive smile tilting her lips.

Perona sighed before letting out a laugh when she spotted Robin. Poor Luffy—that’s her _how-interesting-I-can’t-wait-to-study-more_ smile.

“Well then, now that breakfast is over, why don’t we—” Perona was cut off when an enraged shout sounded from upstairs followed by a heavy _thump_ and more shouting, this time from two parties.

Robin let loose a giggle, eyes opening from where they had been closed. “It seems Zoro has awoken.” She smiled wider when she saw how that perked Luffy up. “And your deer friend isn’t too happy about it.”

“Reindeer.” Perona automatically corrected, remembering how upset Chopper was when her and Zoro called him _deer_. “He’s a reindeer Shifter.”

“A Shifter with a group of Demons?” Robin questioned, looking at Nami.

Nami just waved it off. “Long story.”

 _“Stop moving around! You need to rest!”_ was heard from upstairs.

 _“Dammit! I told you I’m just fine! I don’t even remember going to sleep!”_ a pause from the returning yeller. _“What the fuck! Why am I asleep!?”_

“Horahorahorahora.” Perona covered her mouth to stifle her laughter. “Poor Zoro.”

 _Didn't fall asleep on his own?_ Robin silently thought to herself before her gaze landed on Luffy. _Ah, I see._

“Very naughty of you, little prince.” Robin said with laughter.

“Huh?” Luffy said, completely lost.

Robin just tapped her nose. “You won’t be able to pull that little trick off again.” She then got up and stretched. “Zoro’s Sight protects against such things like that.”

“Such…things?” Luffy said slowly, also getting up.

“Powers that directly affect the mind, that could override a person’s free will.” Robin elaborated. “It’s what makes the Roronoa Family so special among users of the Sight, this ability to block out invasions of the mind.”

**. . .**

“Wait, wait, wait!” Nami shouted, crossing her arms in the air like a referee stopping a game play. “What did you just say?”

Robin and Perona blinked at her in confusion.

Nami let out a frustrated noise. “You just said Roronoa.”

“I did.” Robin said with a confirming nod.

“That green-haired guy’s a _Roronoa?!”_ Nami finally exclaimed, staring at Robin with wide eyes.

“He is.” Robin said with another nod. “He’s the most current Roronoa with the Sight as well as the current owner of Wadō Ichimonji, the white katana that has always belonged to the Roronoa Family. He is a very powerful young man, probably the most powerful Roronoa to date.”

“He’s also an id~iot!” Perona sung out, unable to resist adding that little insult to her brother there, but it didn’t seem the Demons heard her.

“Holy shit.” Nami just breathed out, shaking her head.

Luffy didn’t say anything, didn’t know _what_ to say, but it seemed now his little situation with Zoro just got a whole lot more complicated.

Before anything else could be said on that subject, though, more shouting was heard followed by several loud _thumps_.

“What’s going _on_ up there?” Nami finally asked, looking up at the ceiling, successfully distracted.

“Zoro can be rather…stubborn.” Perona said, scratching Kumashi’s head. “He’s very set in his own ways and doesn’t like people telling him what to do.”

“Your reindeer is in for quite the battle trying to get him to rest.” Robin said knowingly, but, after remembering what she felt upstairs, she knew Zoro would be good by now.

“I think Zoro’ll be okay.” Luffy said cheerily, patting Wadō on the head as he headed into the great room. “But, uh…”

“What is it?” Nami asked, following after the ravenette.

“Do you think they’re ever gonna wake up?” Luffy asked after a moment’s pause, staring at his final two friends that came with him through the portal.

Nami’s lips pursed in thought as her eyes flickered back and forth. “They _have_ been out for quite awhile. I wonder why they haven’t woken up yet.”

“Chopper should look at them.” Luffy stated, flickering his eyes towards the stairs.

“Well…” Perona drawled out as she joined them in the great room. “If what I’m hearing is right, your friend will be joining us—-” several _thumps_ sounded from the stairs, like someone was hitting each one, followed by the arrival of a large figure slamming into the foyer, “—now.”

“OW!” Chopper shouted, sitting up from the floor and rubbing his head. “What was that for?”

“I _told_ you I was fine!” another voice shouted as it made its way down the stairs.

Luffy’s focus quickly shifted from his friends to Zoro, a smile lighting up his face. “ZORO! You’re all better!”

Zoro paused at the entrance of the great room in surprise. “Who the hell are you?” He was still dressed in sweats and a t-shirt, but now resting at his right hip were his three katanas.

Luffy then looked crestfallen; he didn’t remember that Zoro saw him for less than a second before he was knocked out, since Zoro was too busy fending off Chopper to pay attention.

“Zoro, I’m so glad to see you are well.” Robin said as she moved over towards him. “Perona had said you were sick.”

“Robin?” Zoro asked in confusion, looking over at her. “When did you get here?”

“A little while ago.” Perona answered, coming to a stop next to Robin, but couldn’t resist teasing, “Did you have a nice nap?”

A growl left his mouth. “Not. Funny.”

Wadō let out a happy _woof_ as she trotted over to Zoro, sitting at his feet and wagging her tail excitedly. Zoro finally smiled and pat her on her head, ruffling his fingers through her fur.

Luffy, meanwhile, was pouting in the corner because Zoro didn’t seem to know who he was. He was acting like someone took his straw hat and stomped on it several times while wearing cleats… _spiked_ cleats and then setting it on fire.

“Why are you sulking, Luffy?” Nami whispered to the ravenette, bopping him on the head.

“He doesn’t know who I am.” Luffy said with a very pronounced pout.

“What?” Nami asked, confused, before following his gaze, seeing that it was riveted on Zoro. “ _Him?_ Why would you be so upset?”

Luffy just grumbled.

Nami rolled her eyes before walking over to the trio standing in the entryway, intent on continuing their earlier conversation, before a peculiar scent hit her nose. She paused in her movements, nose twitching as she took in a deeper breath, then, all at once, anything electrical in the house all started flickering sporadically, responding to Nami’s mood.

The three looked around in confusion but Nami only spun on her heel before stomping right back over to Luffy, steaming mad. “LUFFY!”

Luffy, having gotten up, jumped in place, his features instantly morphing into one of fear—he’s pretty sure he knew what had the Kitsune so pissed off.

“YOU!” Nami said, poking him in the chest. “What the _hell_ did you _do?!”_

“I, um, don’t—” Luffy looked around, trying to find an escape.

“You…you…you _idiot!_ How the hell could you _do_ that?!” Nami screeched, waving her arms around wildly. “You seriously bo—” She was cut off.

“Miss Nami?” Robin called out, wanting to avoid a scene; she also knew that Nami had figured out what Luffy did to Zoro, but wanted to keep it on the down-low for a little bit longer, until she could get Zoro alone and explain some things.

Nami breathed out harshly before spinning to look at the Vampire. “ _What_ , Robin?”

The Vampire merely smiled back at her. “Weren’t you concerned about your other friends?”

Nami then blinked, all electronic devices calming down with her mood, before nodding. “You’re right.” She glared at Luffy before grinding out, _“Later!”_ She then spun on her heel and walked over to Chopper, who still looked like he wanted to take Zoro and strap him down to a bed. “Chopper?”

The reindeer finally looked away from Zoro and at Nami. “Yes?”

She smiled up at him, head tilted some. “Could you check on Sanji and Usopp for me? They still haven’t woken up and we’re getting worried.”

“Really?” Chopper asked in surprise, turning his gaze down on his still-sleeping friends. “They are!” He then started panicking and running around while shouting, “Doctor! We need a doctor! Ah! Doc—”

He was cut off when he was slapped harshly by Nami. “That’s why we have _you_ , doctor! Go check on them!”

Chopper immediately calmed down before nodding. “You’re right!” He then crouched down by the two figures and started checking them over.

Robin giggled. “He’s certainly an interesting creature.”

“Oh, so that’s what’s going on.” Zoro said, nodding in understanding, as Perona filled him in on all that happened while he was sleeping. He then glanced at the ravenette curiously. “Now I understand why he looks different from any other Demon I’ve seen before.”

“How so?” Robin asked, tuning into their conversation.

Zoro shrugged before explaining: when he looked at Luffy, he looked mostly the same, only now his canine teeth were long and sharp, nails looked more talon-like, eyes glowing and pupils slitted, a thin black tail with a black fur-tuft was swishing lazily behind him, and, the most obvious, were the large bat-like wings coming from his back made of coarse black, gold and silver scales.

“How interesting.” Robin muttered, but said nothing more on the matter.

“But there’s still something I don’t get.” Zoro said, looking at Robin.

“What’s that, little one?” Robin questioned, calling Zoro the nickname she gave him the first time they met. He hated it but couldn’t really discourage the Vampire from calling him that since complaining would only garner amusement from her.

“You said the endgame is to kill him,” he pointed at Luffy, “but what’s the goal right now?”

Robin hummed out, tapping her chin. “I think it’s to kidnap him. If they believe what the legend says, a ritual must be done before the D. can be killed or they don’t get the power.” She tilted her head. “Also, some tales have talked about only a certain _person_ being able to do the killing.” She then shrugged. “I don’t know for sure, since, like I’ve said, too many versions of the tale have been circulated.”

“So, basically, they can’t kill him _yet_.” Perona summed up, fingers combing through Wadō’s fur absentmindedly. “But they _do_ need him now.”

Zoro nodded, finally understanding. “He was brought here to get him away from his super powerful Family, out into the open and unprotected, so they’d have an easier time snatching him.” He then looked deep in thought.

“Zoro.” Perona called out, watching him. “I know that look. What are you thinking about?”

“Well, I don’t think the plan was to let him wake up.” Zoro said, tapping his fingers along Wadō Ichimonji’s hilt thoughtfully. “If they’re able to open portals wherever they want, then they must know what would happen if someone were to fall through one so suddenly.”

“What?” Nami asked, confused. “What do you mean by “able to open portals”?” Robin had said something similar, but it still didn’t make sense to her.

Zoro gave her a flat look. “You really think it was a coincidence that a portal just _happened_ to open under all of you? One that would send you _here_ , to the Human Realm, where he’d be unprotected?”

“I guess not.” Nami said, nodding slowly.

“But something went wrong.” Zoro said like she never spoke, continuing his line of thought.

“I don’t believe they realized how quickly portals shut after being used.” Robin said, knowing where Zoro’s going with this because she’d already figured it out. “They might of thought that since they opened it themselves, it would not close until _they_ closed it.” She rested her hand in her cheek. “But they were wrong.”

Zoro nodded, not at all surprised that Robin already understood. “They couldn’t follow you through it, so they lost their chance to grab him while he was knocked out.” He sighed out, still thinking things through. “They might’ve been able to reopen one in the same area, but we,” he motioned to himself and Perona, “got to them first. All thanks to Wadō and Kumashi.”

“They must have sensed the portal being opened.” Robin said, crossing her arms. “And were drawn to it, subsequently leading you there.”

“And us to them.” Zoro finished, sighing out because he didn’t want to say this, but it’s the only thing that made sense. “But I don’t think this is it.”

The others were confused, all except Robin.

“You see it too.” Robin said, smiling proudly.

Zoro nodded. “They won’t stop just because he got away.” He rubbed his forehead. “If what you’re saying is true, they’re gonna come after him.”

“Correct.” Robin answered before looking over at Luffy. “Do you have any ideas on who would be after you, Luffy?”

Luffy tilted his head, still a little upset about Zoro, but pushed it away from his mind for now to focus on the problem at hand. “Dad once told me lots of people might come after me, but never said names.” He shrugged. “And no one ever did anything to me at home, so I didn’t think about it for too long.”

“I doubt anyone would have attacked you in the Demon Realm.” Robin said thoughtfully. “I wouldn’t think any Demon is _that_ stupid, or suicidal.”

“So they’ll be coming to the Human Realm to get him.” Zoro said, eye resting on the ravenette. “And that will lead them straight _here_.” The Demons were watching Zoro uneasily, almost afraid he’d kick them out, but were surprised when Zoro merely smirked. “Finally. I was starting to get bored.”

“Fufufufu.” Robin laughed, and amusement showed on her face. “You’re too much like your father.”

Zoro rolled his eye at that.

“Wait a minute!” Nami yelled, beyond confused. “You aren’t going to kick us out?”

“Why would we do that?” Zoro asked her like that was the stupidest question she could’ve asked.

“Because!” Nami shouted, waving her arms around. “You aren’t worried someone will attack you or this house?!”

Zoro just shrugged. “We’re just fine, and as for the house…” He trailed off, looking at Robin pointedly.

Robin hid more laughter. “The house, the _property_ is heavily warded, the magic done by an extremely powerful coven who specialize _in_ warding as well as the four elements. My mother did it as a precaution when she finished the house, and I continue to have it done every two years.” She gazed at Nami seriously. “Unless someone from the property _lets_ you in, you cannot set foot on this land.”

“So, basically, what they’re saying is,” Perona said, hand resting on her cocked-out hip, “you’re safe here.” She rolled her eyes. “Plus, Zoro’s been _itching_ for a fight. Damn idiot.”

“Like you’re one to talk.” Zoro scoffed, already walking over to a window to look around outside.

“No one is around right now.” Perona called out and Zoro looked over his shoulder, noticing Perona’s spaced-out gaze.

“You sure?” Zoro said back anyways. “They don’t see anything?”

Perona nodded, blinking rapidly to bring her mind back. “They’re sure, but I told them to keep an extra eye out now, just in case.”

Zoro nodded. “Good.”

“ _What_ are you two talking about?” Nami asked in exasperation, hands settled on her hips. “Who’s “they”?”

“Oh, they didn’t tell you?” Robin asked, looking amused.

“Tell us _what?”_ Nami ground out.

“Perona is a Medium.” Robin informed, smiling serenely. “A Clairvoyant.”

Luffy, with his pinky stuck up his nose, asked, “What?”

Nami’s face met her palm before she rubbed over it. “It means she can see and speak to spirits, Luffy.”

“Ohh.” Luffy said, nodding.

“They seem to be okay.” Chopper suddenly said, startling everyone; they forgot he was there. “Vitals are strong and everything’s working the way its supposed to.”

“Then why aren’t they awake?” Nami asked, rubbing her temples to stave off another headache.

Chopper just shrugged. “I don’t know, but, right now, the only thing wrong with them is that they’re unconscious.” He pushed himself back up. “I can’t do anything else right now.”

“Shishishi. That’s okay, Chopper.” Luffy said, patting the Shifter on the arm. “You did good.”

The reindeer then started doing some weird hula-like dance that involved waving his arms like they were noodles. “Telling me stuff like that doesn’t make me happy or anything, you bastard~”

The Demons just laughed, like that was normal, while the trio from the Human Realm exchanged bemused looks.

* * *

**Somewhere in the Demon Realm**

“What do you _mean_ he’s not there anymore?” a low, gravelly voice bit out, staring at one of his subordinates.

“Just that, sir.” A large man said. “By the time we opened another portal, the Demon Prince, as well as his friends, were gone.”

“How did that happen?!” the boss shouted.

“We don’t know, sir.” The large man’s female partner said, hand on cocked-out hip. “But we are sending the Billions into the Human Realm right now to track him.”

“You have his scent?” he asked, calming slightly.

“Yes, our Trackers were able to pick it up.” The large man said with a nod. “We should have the Prince’s location very soon.”

“And we gave the Billions permission to do whatever was necessary to recover him,” the woman said with a sinister chuckle. “Don’t worry. We’ll have him soon enough.”

“Good.” The boss said, tapping his fingers against the large gold hook replacing his left hand. “After all, nothing can get accomplished until we have that damn D. in our grasp.” He then looked up at the two in front of him. “Oversee the recovery and make sure everything goes smoothly. Don’t let him get away again. Take the others as backup.”

“Sir.” They both said, saluting, before spreading their wings and flying off.

The boss smirked, leaning back in his chair. “Soon, very soon, that power will be _mine_.” An evil laugh followed the proclamation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, who're the mysterious people at the end? You can probably guess, but that doesn't mean I'll tell you! I hope you liked it. I don't think I need to explain anything here, given that I explained everything that needed explaining in the story. Since I'll be delaying my next update, I made this a bit longer. Things are picking up!


	7. Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I'm back! Finally, right? I am so sorry for the long wait, but life happened, and I also hit a little writer's block. But I got this chapter done while I was on vacation and I'm actually pretty proud of it. This chapter will include some ass-kicking as well as the appearance of the final two Demons (and yes, I mean Sanji and Usopp)! I'd also like to mention I'm not the best at writing fight scenes, but I think I did pretty good with this one. One more thing, I re-uploaded the previous chapters because, when I was writing this chapter, I re-read the story and decided to add some things or change them. For example, I changed Robin's backstory a little bit. I highly suggest going back and reading it again. You might be a little confused otherwise. Now, I promise I'll be better about updating, but like I said, I'm kinda busy with my actual life, school and work and such. But school is almost done, so that'll free up a lot of my time. Anyways, thanks to those who have read and reviewed or favorited this story. It means a lot to me! I'd love to know your opinions, but just y'all reading it is enough to make me happy! Okay, I hope you enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or any of One Piece's characters mentioned in this fic.
> 
> Warning: This is AU. Basically, all that remains are their names, faces, and a few personality traits, but other than that, the characters in this story are mostly OOC.

**Back in the Human Realm**

Nami just couldn’t believe the sight in front of her. Luffy was being still and quiet, not running around and shouting like the hyperactive monkey on three sugar rushes he usually was. Not only that, but he was staring intently at Zoro while he talked with Perona about something, voices low—though they could still make them out, thanks to their hearing. After a few more seconds of watching, Nami finally moved her gaze over to the Vampire, questions swirling in her mind that she intended to get answers for.

“Robin?” Nami asked as she walked up to the woman, though kept her voice low.

“Yes, Nami?” Robin replied, looking over at the Kitsune. “Is there something you need?”

“You knew.” Nami said, and when Robin looked back at her in bemusement, she added, “You seemed to know what I was about to say to Luffy before you cut me off.”

Robin blinked for a second before she recognized what Nami was talking about. “Oh, you mean about the bonding.”

Nami gritted her teeth before slowly letting out a breath. “Yes, that.”

“I discovered it when I went to check on Zoro earlier.” Robin explained before the Kitsune could ask. “The scent aura had already started taking hold, even though it wasn’t done too long ago. I guess it’s because he’s an Archdemon, and they might work differently.”

“Too long ago?” Nami asked, confused.

Robin then realized the only thing Nami knew about the bonding was that it was _done_ , nothing more. She sighed out before telling the Kitsune everything Luffy had told her earlier in Zoro’s bedroom. Nami listened quietly, eyes glancing over at Luffy every so often, before Robin finished with what she had told Luffy about the other bonding.

 _“Shanks!?”_ Nami screeched out, though quietly, completely stunned. “ _He’s_ bonded with a Hunter?!”

“Yes.” Robin said, crossing her arms. “It was about forty or fifty years ago, but if you looked at the Hunter today, you wouldn’t know it. He doesn’t look to be that old.”

“That makes sense.” Nami muttered, rubbing her temples. “When a Supernatural bonds with someone that has a normal lifespan, such as a Human, the bond will lengthen that life until the Supernatural themselves die.” She glanced back up at Robin. “And Shanks is about 3,900-years-old, so he’s got longer to go.”

Robin laughed at that. “It seems Mihawk will be alive longer yet.” Robin tilted her head. “At least I won’t be so lonely.” She then looked over at Zoro, who was now arguing with his sister about something. “And now Zoro will be joining us.”

Nami shook her head. “Of all people for Shanks to bond with, he chooses a Hunter. That’s just like him.” Something then occurred to her. “Now I get why his scent has been so off for the past few decades.”

Robin nodded. “He’s missing half of his soul.”

“That must suck.” Nami said, her gaze then landing on Luffy. “And now Luffy is like that.”

“I’m very interested in how he’ll explain this to his Family.” Robin said, barely hiding her mirth.

Nami stifled her own laughter. “Ace will probably try to kill Zoro before trying to kill Luffy. He’s very overprotective.”

“This is Gol D. Ace, correct?” Robin questioned, leaning back against one of the walls.

Nami nodded before stating, “But we don’t call him that.” At Robin’s raised eyebrow, she continued, “For his own protection, we refer to him as Portgas D. Ace. That was his mother’s last name.”

“Ah, I see.” Robin said, nodding in understanding. “Given he’s the last of the Gol D.’s, it’d be wise not to broadcast that.”

Nami nodded absentmindedly and looked back over at Robin, about to open her mouth to say something else, when Zoro suddenly cried out, hands clamping over his ears as he squeezed his eye shut, looking like he was in extreme pain.

“Zoro?” Perona questioned, trying to push him upright from where he slumped against her. “What is it?”

“The…the…” Zoro tried to force through his gritted teeth before finally shouting, “The fuckin’ wards are goin’ off!”

Robin’s eyes widened as she hurried over to one of the windows, pushing back the curtain to see that, yes, it seemed the wards _had_ been activated, bright dots glowing brightly from the four cardinal directions before shooting up and moving to surround the house and property like a clear dome, encasing them safely inside.

“Shit!” Zoro ground out, trying to block out the noise. “That’s too fuckin’ loud!”

“What is?” Nami asked, looking around in confusion.

Perona rubbed a hand up and down Zoro’s back, trying to calm him down as she answered Nami. “The wards have been activated, but we can’t really tell from where we are.”

“If you were to look outside, you could somewhat see them, but that’s about it.” Robin added and Perona nodded.

Zoro just squeezed his eye tighter while he attempted to make himself deaf.

“But, to someone with the Sight, a very loud warning sound is going off right now, accompanied with bright flashes of light.” Perona finished explaining before looking down at Wadō. “Go get his sunglasses.”

Wadō _woof-_ ed in agreement before sprinting to the stairs and disappearing up them.

“What does it sound like?” Nami asked curiously, looking at Zoro before back at Perona.

Perona shrugged, ‘cause she didn’t really know.

“Hard to explain.” Zoro gritted out, surprising everyone; they didn’t think he was listening. “It’s just very loud, and _really_ fuckin’ annoying.”

“Perona?” Robin called out, still glancing outside, but didn’t spot anything. “Do they see anything?”

“Give me a sec.” Perona called out before slowly breathing out and allowing her mind to connect with the various spirits that lived around their property. It took a second, because they all were freaking out, before one of them finally relayed what they found to Perona.

Zoro grabbed the black sunglasses Wadō dropped in his lap before sliding them on, the thick lenses blocking out most of the flashes. “Thanks, Wadō.”

Wadō _bark-_ ed happily in reply.

“Backyard.” Perona finally said, blinking rapidly as she brought herself back. “They’re coming out of the forest.”

“What are?” Luffy finally asked, looking between Perona and Zoro.

“Demons.” Perona said, helping Zoro push himself back upright. “A whole lot of Demons.”

“Shit, that was quicker than I thought.” Zoro said as he finally took his hands off his ears; the warning sound had finally stopped, but the stupid lights were still flashing.

Nami and Chopper both exchanged wide-eyed glances before looking over at Luffy, but couldn’t tell what he was thinking since his eyes were shaded by the brim of his straw hat.

Robin moved over to the window overlooking the covered porch and glanced out, nodding. “It seems there are maybe four-hundred Demons out there, but they all look so confused as to why they can’t go any further.” She laughed at the sight.

Nami stepped up next to Robin and peeked over the Vampire’s shoulder. “Damn, your wards are _strong_.” She then did a quick recount before almost fainting sideways in disbelief. “There aren’t four-hundred out there.”

“Really?” Chopper asked hopefully.

“It’s closer to six-hundred.” Nami said, quickly dashing his hopes and making him scream in terror.

Finally Luffy looked over at the door before a wicked, yet excited, smile spread across his face. “Sounds fun! Let’s go kick their asses!”

Before he could get even three feet, he found himself flat on the ground, being sent there by one of Nami’s hits.

“You are going nowhere.” Nami hissed out as she squatted down next to him, getting right in his face. “Understand, Luffy?”

“But _why?”_ Luffy whined, sitting up and rubbing his head.

“They want _you_ , Luffy.” Zoro spoke this time as he made his way over to Robin. “We’re not gonna make that any easier for them by just sending you out there.”

Luffy pouted. He understood, he really did, but he loved to fight! This was no fair, but then something occurred to him.

“Are you fighting?” Luffy asked Zoro, barely hiding his concern. Probably because of the bond, but just the thought of Zoro going out there, where danger was and he wouldn’t be, made his heart and lungs clench and his stomach sick.

“‘Course I am.” Zoro grunted out, his tone calling Luffy stupid for even asking.

“You _can_ fight, right?” Nami asked but before Zoro could answer her rather rudely, Perona butted in.

“He may be a moron, but he’s worse than any Demon when he fights.” Perona said, easily ignoring the snarl from Zoro at that. “After all, he was trained by our dad.”

“And don’t forget what I told you about Mihawk.” Robin commented, smile sly.

“A Hunter.” Nami said, nodding, before she looked down at the swords resting at Zoro’s right hip. “But you do know normal swords won’t work on the Supernatural, right?”

Zoro took off the sunglasses he was wearing, placing them on the mantle, before looking over at the Kitsune, smirking. “Who said these were normal?” Ignoring her stunned look, Zoro whistled, “Come on, Wadō! It’s time for some exercise.”

The Hellhound howled in excitement and followed behind Zoro as he left for the backyard. Robin gave the others in the room a mysterious smile before following after Zoro and Wadō, intending on helping out.

“What does he mean by that?” Luffy finally asked, looking over at Perona.

“Horahorahorahora.” Perona looked over at the Demon Prince. “You’ll see.”

“You think he’ll be okay out there?” Nami asked, looking at the pink-haired Medium as well.

“Perfectly fine.” Perona waved off. “Plus, he has Wadō and Robin with him.”

“But there’s still over six-hundred out there.” Luffy said, playing with his straw hat nervously. “That’s a lot for only three to handle.”

“Not like we have any others to offer.” Perona pointed out. “Well, maybe Kumashi, but I can’t seem to find him right now.”

Nami froze as that sentence hit her before her gaze fell to the ground, Luffy and Chopper doing the same a few seconds later.

“Oh, we have more to offer.” Nami said with a seriously terrifying look on her face as she stomped over to the two still unconscious.

“Wait, Nami, I don’t think you should—”

“WHAT THE _HELL_ DO YOU TWO THINK YOU’RE DOING! WE’RE UNDER ATTACK AND YOU’RE JUST _SLEEPING!?_ WAKE YOUR SORRY, USELESS ASSES UP!” Nami screamed before proceeding to kick the snot out of the two on the floor.

“—do that.” Chopper finished, sighing out and looking over at Luffy, who just shrugged.

“Damn, she’s brutal.” Perona said, eyebrows high.

“That’s our Nami!” Luffy said with a large smile as they all watched the forms on the floor start to twitch and let out moans.

“Nami!” one of the them finally whined out. “What was that for?”

“You’ve been sleeping for too long, you idiot.” Nami growled out. “The both of you!” Seeing one of them still slow to get up, she kicked him again. “Sanji! Get your ass up!”

The Demon Nami called Sanji immediately popped upright to his feet, acting as if he wasn’t just beaten within an inch of his life. “Anything for you, Nami- _swan_!”

Perona raised her eyebrows at that before taking the chance to look him over. He looked to be as tall as Zoro and had medium-longish, scruffy golden-yellow blond hair with the long fringe kept brushed over the right side of his face, hiding it, light tan skin, Carolina-blue eyes, a dark goatee, stubble on his upper-lip, slightly sharp canines, and a sinewy, long-legged body; the oddest thing that Perona could see about the guy was that his eyebrows both formed a spiral to the right, and he was dressed similarly to Luffy, though his long-sleeved shirt was unripped and a dark blue color, but the pants were similar as well as the fact that he was wearing no shoes.

“Ow, ow, ow.” The other Demon groaned out as he pushed himself upright, rubbing his head.

Nami growled before stomping her foot down and Perona could swear she saw sparks shoot out. “Suck it up, Usopp! We don’t have time for you to be lazing around!”

Perona switched her gaze over to the other Demon, the one Nami called Usopp, and gave him a look-over as well. He stood about an inch taller than her and Luffy and had scapula-length, ringleted black hair pulled back into a low ponytail, dark brown eyes, a cinnamon complexion, a black goatee, a brawny, athletic body, thick lips, sharpish canines, and a really abnormally long nose; hanging around his neck were a pair of orange red-tinted goggles of some kind and placed over his ears were orange headphones. Like the other two males, this Demon was dressed similarly, though his top was short-sleeved and dark yellow, but the pants and no shoes were the same; only strange thing about him was that something black and metallic was attached to his hip, looking kind of like a slingshot of some kind.

Usopp finally looked around himself before shrieking out, jumping onto his feet as he spun around. “What the hell! Where are we?”

Sanji, too, took a minute to glance around before his gaze landed on Perona, and after a few seconds of studying, he looked back over at Usopp. “Going by her scent, I’m gonna say we’re in the Human Realm.”

 _“What?!”_ the long-nosed Demon shouted.

Sanji took a calming breath before his gaze landed on Luffy, who seemed to be looking out the back window at something, and then back over at Nami. “What did we miss?”

“A whole damn lot, but we don't have the time to waste talking!” Nami yelled, looking about ready to self-combust.

Perona walked over and laid a steadying hand on the Kitsune’s shoulder. “Calm down, Nami. I told you that Zoro, Robin and Wadō can handle themselves in a fight. There’s no need for you to panic.”

Sanji’s gaze landed on the hand Perona laid on Nami’s shoulder before back up at the girl herself. “And who might you be, my dear?”

“Now is not the time for flirting, Sanji!” Nami reprimanded, but took Perona’s advice and took a calming breath.

“My name is Perona.” Perona answered anyway before adding a few more things. “This is my house, one I share with my brother and father.” When she felt Nami’s trembling die down under her hand, she let the orange-haired woman go. “And like you said, you’re in the Human Realm.”

“Luffy!” Usopp called out, just noticing the ravenette in front of the window. “What the hell’s going on?!”

Luffy didn’t respond, too focused on the battle outside.

Usopp really looked close to tears.

Nami took in one last breath before blowing it out and said, “It’s a very long story, one we don’t have the time to share, so I’ll tell you the important parts.” Once she was sure she had both Demons’ attention, she went on. “We’re in the Human Realm, sent here by someone through a portal they opened last night.” Nami held up a hand when Usopp looked like he was about to say something. “What we surmised is someone is after Luffy, and missed their chance to grab him because Perona,” she pointed at the girl, “and her brother found us and took us back here. Chopper, Luffy and I have been awake since this morning, so we were able to figure a few things out.”

“They actually knew what you were talking about?” Sanji asked, pointing at Perona.

“They actually did before we did. They aren’t normal Humans.” Nami said with a smirk. “Perona is a Medium and her brother…” she shook her head. “Her brother has the Sight. Not only that, but he’s a _Roronoa_ with the Sight. You understand what that means, right?”

Both Demons’ jaws dropped at that, eyes wide.

“On top of _that_ , their adoptive father is a Hunter and this town is under the protection of an insanely powerful Vampire named Robin.” Nami finished before looking over at Perona. “Did I miss anything?”

Perona shook her head. “Except for forgetting to mention we also have both a Hellhound and Hellcat living with us, you hit all the major points.”

“Holy shit.” Sanji said, shaking his head in stunned disbelief. “We _did_ miss a lot.”

“We’ll tell you the full story later, but right now we’re under attack!” Nami shouted, pointing at the window Luffy was looking out of. “And we have only three against an army of six-hundred Demons!”

 _“WHAT!?”_ Usopp screeched out. “Six- _hundred?!”_

“They tracked Luffy to here.” Chopper informed from where he was sitting on one of the couches. “Probably by his scent.”

“Then why aren’t they attacking the house directly?” Sanji asked, eyebrow raised.

“The wards won’t allow them on the property.” Perona answered, crossing her arms resolutely. “They’re extremely powerful. There’s only one way for a Supernatural to get on this land and that’s if someone who lives here brings you in.”

_Maow!_

The Demons all jumped in surprise but Perona just looked down with a smile. “There you are, Kumashi. I was wondering where you wandered off to.”

_Maow!_

Kumashi then pranced over to the back door and pawed at it before looking back at Perona and _maow-_ ed again.

“You wanna join the fight?” Perona guessed with an amused look.

Kumashi just nodded, hopping up on his back legs to paw at the door more insistently.

“Okay, okay.” Perona said, laughing. “I’ll let you out.”

“You two are going too!” Nami said, pushing both Sanji and Usopp over to where Perona and Kumashi were standing.

“What?!” Usopp yelled, sounding strained. “But I don’t wanna fight six-hundred Demons!”

“It’s actually closer to three-hundred now.” Luffy spoke up finally, though didn’t even look away from the window.

“They already got through _that_ many?!” Nami shouted in shock, jaw dropping. “It’s only been like fifteen minutes since they went outside!”

“Told ya you didn’t need to worry.” Perona said with a smirk.

“How did—” Luffy cut Nami off.

“It was his swords. They _aren’t_ regular blades.” Luffy said, hand flat on the glass as his eyes continued to track Zoro’s form, not missing a single step, because, to be honest, he was entranced by his movements and fighting style. How could something, _someone_ be so graceful, yet lethal? It completely captivated him.

“Horahorahorahorahora.” Perona muffled her laughter best she could and looked over at Luffy. “I see you understand. Those Demons were dead the moment Zoro decided to fight.”

“What the hell are you two talking about!?” Nami screeched out in exasperation, beyond stressed by the situation.

“They aren’t regular blades.” Luffy said again, eyes still riveted on the fight. No way was he missing anything.

“What does that mean?” Nami now looked close to tears.

Perona laid a hand on her shoulder. “Zoro fights with three katanas, but like Luffy keeps saying, they aren’t normal blades.” Before Nami could snap at her, she continued with, “Zoro fights with two sacred blades and one cursed blade.”

Nami, Chopper, Sanji and Usopp’s jaws and eyes went wide as they looked over at Perona in astonishment.

“Sacred weaponry are some of the only weapons known to exist that can hurt, and kill, the Supernatural.” Perona said, crossing her arms. “But, obviously, my brother’s specialty lies with sacred blades.” _Dad too_ , she thought absentmindedly to herself.

“Don’t Hunters only have access to those kinds of weapons?” Nami questioned, slightly breathless.

“Usually, but the white blade, Wadō Ichimonji, has actually been in Zoro’s family since the katana’s creation.” Perona informed. “The other two he found on Hunting missions that he went on with our dad.” She glanced at the gobsmacked Demons. “The black blade is his other sacred one, goes by the name of Shusui.”

“And the cursed one?” Usopp then asked, still shocked. “Those are only made in the Demon Realm!”

“Kitetsu III.” Perona told them. “From what Zoro told me, that blade found him, literally appearing right in front of him. Almost took his head off.”

Nami finally pushed her shock off, spinning to look at Sanji and Usopp. “Now, you two, go help them!”

“Why aren’t you going?” Usopp asked, tears in his eyes.

“ _I_ have to be in here to make sure Luffy stays put.” Nami said, rolling her eyes.

“Good point.” Usopp said before blowing out a resigned breath and looking over at Perona. “Can I access the roof somewhere?”

Perona looked at him, confused.

“Usopp’s a sniper.” Nami informed her. “He’ll do better if he can get a perch.”

“Oh, okay.” Perona nodded. “Here, go out the front door and you can find a way to get up there. Zoro’s done it before.”

“Thanks.” Usopp said, waiting for the girl to lead him out.

“Kumashi.” Perona called out, causing the Hellcat to stop scratching at the door and look over at his Human. “Go out with this Demon, okay?” She pointed at Sanji. “I have to show this one to the front.”

_Maow!_

“Good.” Perona said, about to turn, before facing the Hellcat again. “And be careful!”

Kumashi nodded before starting to paw at the door once more.

“Wait thirty seconds then let them out back.” Perona said to Nami before jogging to the foyer, Usopp right behind her.

“Well, here goes nothing.” Nami muttered as she started the countdown.

* * *

**(Several Minutes Earlier, when Zoro, Robin and Wadō left the house)**

Zoro, with Wadō and Robin trailing after him, made his way over to the edge of the wards, watching as the assembled Demons kept bashing themselves against it, striking it with various weapons, but the wards held strong.

It took several minutes, but the Demons finally seemed to notice they had an audience and looked down at the three standing on the _other_ side of the “invisible wall”; that caused several to yell at one another, each pointing that out, as confusion and anger threaded through the tones.

“Where is the Demon Prince?” one of them finally shouted out, causing all other yelling to stop.

Zoro tilted his head to the side. “Demon Prince? Can’t say I’ve ever heard of one.” He looked over at the Vampire, a smirk on his lips. “What about you?”

“Can’t say I’ve had the pleasure of meeting a Prince.” Robin said, her words smooth and silky.

“Stop playing around, pathetic mortals!” another one shouted. “Just hand over Monkey D. Luffy and no one will have to die!”

Zoro and Robin exchanged more glances before doubling over with laughter.

After several moments of this, the Demons seemed to get fed up with that and shouted, “SHUT UP! Do you have any idea at what you’re laughing at?”

Zoro let another smirk grace his lips as he straightened up. “‘Course we do. But I don’t see how that’s a problem.”

“And why not?” one of them asked.

“You guys are over there,” Zoro pointed at them, “and we’re over here,” he pointed at the ground in front of him. “Not much of a threat if you can’t even reach us.”

“They aren’t very bright, are they?” Robin asked, resting her cheek in one of her hands.

“Shut up, you filthy woman!” one shouted.

“Now that wasn’t very nice.” Robin tsked.

The Demons all started shouting things at them until it sounded like one giant voice and it was giving Zoro another headache; he’d already had one from those stupid sirens being sounded off. He was pissed and ready to blow off some steam.

He pulled Kitetsu III out of his scabbard with his left hand, which got the attention of several Demons as they started laughing.

“Look at that, the stupid Human doesn’t realize those dinky blades will do nothing to us!” one of them shouted, and more similar statements were made, but Zoro paid them no mind.

Closing his eye and centering himself, he moved Kitetsu so he’s held horizontally above his left shoulder and then performed a circular swing, shouting _“360-Caliber Phoenix!”_ as he did, and launched the compressed air projectile at the laughing Demons, smirking when he heard the surprised shouts of agony as his attack ripped through about fifty Demons before finally implanting itself in a tree, cutting it clean in half.

Opening his eye and giving the Demons a truly scary smile, he said, “Look at that. I guess my blades _can_ cut you.”

“That…that…that was a cursed blade!” one of the Demons shouted, having felt the aura of the attack as it blasted by.

“Fufufu. Seems you’ve surprised them, Zoro.” Robin said with a smirk. “But now it’s my turn.” And with that, she dropped her Human façade and donned her Vampire form—eyes now glowing a blood red, fangs lengthening and sharpening, nails growing longer, and skin turning a bit paler.

“A Vampire?!” the Demons shouted in shock.

“Not just any Vampire.” Zoro muttered in amusement; unlike Perona, Zoro actually knew all about Robin’s past, as did Mihawk.

“And now,” Robin crossed her arms in front of her in a X, _“Cien Fleur!”_ And to the astonishment of the Demons, two arms sprouted from about fifty Demons, totaling one-hundred arm copies. The copied arms then moved to cover the Demons’ mouths before she shouted _“Clutch!”_ and bent them backwards, snapping their spines and cracking them in half. Letting her hands drop, the copied limbs then disappeared in a flurry of peach petals as she watched the broken Demons fall to the ground in agony.

“You bitch!” one of the Demons shouted at Robin. “How the hell did you do that?!”

“A lady never tells her secrets.” Robin said with a sinister smile.

“There’s only one Vampire group who has special abilities,” another Demon said. “But there’s only one of them left now and he’s male!”

“She can’t be anyone else!” another Demon shouted, pointing at Robin. “She has to be of the Nico Vampires!”

“They’re considered to be so dangerous and powerful that even _other_ Vampires are afraid of them!” a Demon shouted as the others chattered anxiously.

“My, and here I thought you were stupid.” Robin said with a chuckle.

“She must be an unknown child,” one Demon said as another answered with, “It has to be. A female Nico Vampire hasn’t been seen for a few millennia.”

“I’m getting bored again.” Zoro grumped out as the Demons continued talking before looking down at Wadō. “You’re up, girl. Show ‘em what you’ve got.”

Wadō gave a happy bark before crouching low and literally shaking off her “normal” form, once again taking on her _true_ form.

The Demons, who had started laughing again, each choked off when they saw what now stood in front of them: an immense, monstrous, and powerfully built Hellhound with pure white fur, deep, bright and almost glowing sapphire blue eyes, a large and heavy head topped by erect, triangular ears, strong, powerful jaws containing razor sharp teeth and long canines, and sharp black claws. But what ultimately shut them up were the bright fuchsia flames coming off the back and covering her tail, the fire so large and strong they could feel the heat, even on the other side of the barrier.

“A _female_ Hellhound?!” one of them shouted.

“All yours, Wadō.” Zoro said with mirth, now looking _up_ at the Hellhound.

Wadō let out a loud howl, making the Demons cringe at the sound, before leaping _through_ the barrier and right at the mass of Demons; they all screamed in surprise while they tried to get away, but Wadō wouldn’t let them. She bit, clawed, stomped and burned at least a hundred of them before Zoro whistled for her to come back. Wagging her tail, she stomped the one under her paw one last time before turning and leaping right back into the barrier.

“Good girl.” Zoro said, patting her on the snout when she leaned down towards him.

Now the Demons were truly freaking out, not expecting this when they were told to retrieve the Demon Prince. They were told it’d be an easy recovery mission, but now they understood that they were totally, royally screwed.

“Well, that took out about two-hundred, which leaves us with about four-hundred.” Robin said to Zoro, who was now tying his black bandana on his head before pulling his sacred blades out. “Shouldn’t take much more to make those numbers dwindle further.”

“Can’t wait.” Zoro growled as he gripped Wadō Ichimonji with his teeth and leapt through the wards, immediately spinning to create a dragon-like tornado and shouting, _“Black Rope Dragon Twister!”_ , the attack both slashing and blowing away the seventy Demons unlucky enough to be in front of him.

“So impatient.” Robin said with amusement before X-crossing her arms and shouting once more, _“Cien Fleur!”_ and then _“Gigantesco Mano!”_ , creating two giant arms made up of the hundred she just sprouted. Once they formed, she then yelled, _“Spank!”_ and struck down on the group of Demons in front of her with the palms open, sending them flying.

Wadō, of course, had followed right behind Zoro and was now doing what she did before, tearing into any Demon unlucky enough to get in her way. It was a tiring task, that was for sure, but the three of them were having a blast. Soon, the three fighters had gotten the enemy’s numbers down to about three-hundred, but after figuring out it was a bit harder for the swordsman and Hellhound to get them when they flew up, they started to spread their wings and fly. Robin, however, could still get to them, but she could only break so many at a time.

The Demons, as soon as Zoro left the barrier, noticed something peculiar about the Human, a scent that smelt really familiar to them was wrapped around him, mixing in with his own personal scent. They couldn’t really figure it out and fight at the same time, so they pushed the thought away.

“Damn Demons.” Zoro muttered out, wiping sweat and blood off of his face.

As soon as Zoro spoke, however, he heard someone shout _“Special Attack! Fire Bird Star!”_ and then something was soaring over his head, and when he looked up, he saw the faint outline of flames shaped kind of like a phoenix before it hit one of the Demons, exploding on contact and taking out several more around it with a massive ring of fire.

“What the hell!” Zoro shouted, sheathing Wadō Ichimonji, and looked around to find out where the hell that shot came from, but couldn’t see anything.

He then heard what sounded like an angry growl—not Wadō’s, though—before a shadow was flying over him and landing right next to the Hellhound. After a second, Zoro saw who had came to help.

“Kumashi!” Zoro called out with amusement.

He, too, had changed to his true form, just like Wadō: an immense, monstrous, sleekly built Hellcat with smokey gray fur and distinctive vertical black stripes along the whole of his body, glowing deep red eyes with circular pupils, a large head topped by small, rounded ears that had a prominent black spot on the backs, a long, black-ringed tail, sharp, deadly claws, and strong, powerful jaws containing fairly stout teeth and long, curved canines. What sealed the deal, however, were the dark red flames covering his back and tail, burning so hot that even the Demons in the air could feel them.

“A Hellcat?!” one of them shouted. “How do they have _two_ Hell-animals?!”

Kumashi let out a sound that closely resembled a tiger’s roar and crouched down before leaping onto a tree nearby, scurrying up it and then launching himself off it like a springboard, allowing him to get to the flying Demons and bring down several of them with a single swat of his large paw. Zoro smirked as he watched Wadō then pounce on top of the ones Kumashi knocked down and tear them apart. They made a great team. Zoro then suddenly crossed his two katanas in front of him when three Demons decided to attack him at once while he was distracted, but blocked them easily.

“Pathetic.” Zoro scoffed before pushing them off and moving his katanas so they were in front of him, pointing up, before spinning quickly and shouting _“Rhino Cycle!”_ and aimed the attack at the Demons.

Robin let her arms drop to the side so she could try and find where that shot came from. It was then she noticed the porch door had opened and two figures sprinted out, one of them being the Hellcat, who quickly transformed, and another one she’d never seen before, but looked vaguely familiar.

 _Oh, he was one of the Demons still unconscious_ , Robin thought to herself and then noticed he was now in full Demon Form, just like her. From the glowing eyes with slitted pupils, pointy canine teeth, and talon-like nails he now sported, it confirmed her suspicion that he _was_ a Demon, but what confirmed his actual type were the large bat-like wings coming from his back made of a thin dark red membrane covered in elaborate black swirled designs, small black pointy horns coming out of either side of his head, and thin black tail with a spade-shaped tip swishing behind him.

 _An Incubus_ , Robin said, a little surprised. _You don’t see a lot of those around._

“You must be the beautiful Vampire Nami- _swan_ told me about,” the Incubus said smoothly as he came up next to her.

“Yes, my name is Robin.” She answered before inclining her head, but then quickly looked over when she sensed a Demon sneaking up on Zoro from behind while he dealt with five in front of him. She crossed her arms and said, _“Dos Fleur!”_ , copied arms growing out of the Demon’s shoulders and covering the mouth before bending him suddenly backwards, cracking his spine, and him, in half.

Zoro, after cutting down the Demons in front of him, turned around and scowled at the Vampire. “I had that handled, Robin!”

“Fufufufu.” Robin laughed before shouting back, “I’m sure you did, Zoro. Just helping out.”

Zoro narrowed his eye, then looked beside her at the blond Demon for a few contemplating seconds before throwing himself back in the fight.

“And I’m guessing that swordsman is the Zoro I was told about.” He stated. “The one with the Sight.” _And a Roronoa._

“That would be him.” Robin said in amusement. “He’s having so much fun.” She then turned to look at him. “Is Luffy doing okay?”

The blond shrugged. “He doesn’t like being left out of a fight.”

“I’m glad you and your friend decided to wake up.” Robin said, smiling at him. “I assume it was the other Demon who’s sniping down the flying ones?”

“That’s Usopp.” The Incubus answered with a chuckle. “Those flying ones don’t stand a chance. He never misses his target.” He then gave the Vampire a smooth, charming smile. “And my name is Sanji. What can I help you with, m’lady?”

Robin shrugged, completely unaffected, before crossing her arms once more. “Help out where you can.”

“Can do!” Sanji shouted before leaping through the barrier and immediately locking eyes on his target. Getting a running start, he pushed off with a powerful launch, flipping three times until he landed in the middle of the large group of Demons, on top of one of their faces in a one-handed handstand, before shouting _“Party Table Kick Course!”_ and then spun around rapidly, delivering savage kicks to every single face of the Demons around him; when all the Demons around him had dropped to the ground, he dismounted from the Demon he was balancing on and then kicked that one in the face as well before landing lightly on his feet, blowing out a breath.

He was about to jump again when he spotted that green-haired swordsman and his eyes widened some when he saw the guy just _standing_ there as multiple Demons came at him; he seemed to not even notice as he moved his katanas in place, crossing the two in his hands across his chest and then placed the one that was in his mouth horizontally behind them, before closing his eye. Sanji was just about to call out, ask him what the _hell_ he thought he was doing, but then the strangest thing happened—the katana blades each looked like they were waving, _bending_ , which was impossible.

“Charming Demon,” Zoro muttered. “Sleepless Night.” He then quickly swung the katanas across his chest in a descending diagonal-crossing slash while simultaneously performing a horizontal cut with the blade in his mouth, but as he did so, he twisted each blade during the slash, resulting in a huge whirlwind that cut up anyone unlucky enough to be around him. “Oni Giri!”

Sanji didn’t get impressed easily, but he had to admit that attack was extremely impressive. He quickly fell into a backbend when two blades slashed above him before he twisted around, moving into a handstand before delivering a kick to the ribs of the first Demon in front of him, shouting _“Côtelette!”_ before using the momentum to spin around in the opposite direction and deliver a fast kick to the other Demon’s lower-back, shouting _“Selle!”_.

Sanji landed back down on his feet and looked up as he watched Usopp snipe down the Demons still flying around in the air, kicking any bodies away that landed too close to him. There were still about a hundred left and when he was about to dive back in, his hearing picked up the sound of Luffy…and he didn’t sound happy.

* * *

“But I wanna help, Nami!” Luffy whined, trying to go out the door, but the combined forces of Nami, Chopper and Perona kept him from doing so. “Come on guys! Standing here is _so_ boring!”

“You heard what Zoro said, Luffy.” Perona said, keeping a tight grip around his hips. “Going out there would do more harm than good.”

“Don’t care!” Luffy shouted, still trying to move forward.

Nami growled out in frustration before an idea hit her, something that would appease Luffy while keeping him safe.

“I know what you can do, Luffy.” Nami said, planting her hands on the Prince’s shoulders.

“What?” Luffy asked excitedly.

“You have to promise not to leave this doorway.” Nami said sternly, glaring at him.

“But how…” he trailed off when it hit him just what Nami wanted him to do. “Oh, I get it! Yosh! I can do that!”

“Do what?” Perona asked warily.

“You might want to stand back for this.” Nami advised before going down the porch stairs and over to Robin.

“Nami?” Robin asked, confused, when she saw the Kitsune sidle up next to her.

“Get everyone back in here.” Nami said, looking around. “Luffy’s gonna finish this.”

Robin was still confused, but sprouted a mouth on a tree near where Zoro, Wadō and Kumashi were fighting. “Zoro! Nami says for you all to come back.”

Zoro looked behind him, confused, before shrugging and running back to the house, the Hell-animals following after him, knocking anyone in his way out of it. When he reached it, he spotted Nami, plus two others standing next to her; one was the blond Demon he saw fighting out there, an Incubus, and the other was definitely another Demon with his sharp, pointy canines, glowing eyes and slitted pupils, and talon-like nails, but Zoro identified his type as a Nature Demon because of the large bat-like wings coming from his back made of smooth green and brown leaf-shaped scales and brown twisted-backward horns—kind of like a ram’s—sticking out from his hair, on either side of his head.

Once everyone was out of the way, Nami told them to get down before shouting back at Luffy to _“go ahead!”_

Luffy finally moved slightly out of the door, into view, but ignored the cries of the other bad Demons as he slowly exhaled before squinting his eyes in concentration, trying to attain just the right amount, before flaring his eyes wide open, sending his Spirit out of him in a powerful blast that the others felt sweep over their backs before ramming into the still-standing Demons, knocking the rest of them out in less than a second. Once that was done, Luffy reined in his Spirit and locked it back down before taking a moment to breathe normally again.

“Okay, it’s safe!” Luffy finally shouted as he ran down the steps and over the terrace, heading to where the others were slowly pushing themselves up from the grass.

“Your Conqueror's Haki is very strong, little prince.” Robin said with a sly smile, brushing her hair back into place.

“ _That’s_ what that was?” Zoro said, looking at Luffy before over at Robin. “I’ve read about it some, but never thought I’d see it in person.” He glanced at the completely knocked-out Demons. “Very impressive.”

“Ah! Zoro!” Luffy yelped, jumping over to Zoro. “You’re bleeding!”

Zoro took a step back, surprised at Luffy’s close proximity, before reaching up a hand and touching various spots of his face, seeing that his fingers were, indeed, stained red. “Huh, would you look at that.” He grabbed the black bandana still around his head and slipped it off, ruffling his hair once it was free, and tying the fabric back around his left bicep.

Sanji and Usopp, however, were both looking between Luffy and Zoro strangely, a little surprised. It was true that Luffy made friends with extreme ease, but it didn’t seem like the swordsman would be an easy sale. Sanji took a deep breath in, about to say something, before he caught a scent that had his head whipping back to look at the green-haired one, completely caught off-guard. He took in another breath, discreetly, but smelt the same thing as before.

 _That’s a scent aura_ , Sanji thought to himself, stunned. _And the scent surrounding that swordsman is—_

His hand came up to grip Usopp’s bicep tightly, grabbing the sniper and pulling him in close. He needed to make sure he wasn’t going crazy.

“Sanji?” Usopp questioned quietly, a little startled by his friend’s grip and expression.

“Take in a deep breath.” Sanji whispered back, his eyes still locked on the green-haired swordsman—who was trying to push Luffy away from him—before looking down at Usopp and then back.

Usopp was confused, but followed Sanji’s gaze before breathing in deeply. He didn’t smell anything weird, but before he could tell that to the blond, he tensed when something snuck in at the tail end of his scent tasting. Taking in another deep breath, he let it out in a surprised sound.

“You smell it too?” Sanji questioned, grip still tight on Usopp.

“I do.” Usopp said back with a nod.

What the two didn’t notice was Robin watching them, smiling secretively as she watched them discover just what their Prince did to Zoro. Before they could start yelling at Luffy, like Nami did, however, she glided over to them—grateful that Luffy was keeping Zoro distracted—and placed a hand on both of their shoulders when she came to a stop behind them; they both jumped in surprise but made no other moves or noises, thankfully.

“I see you’ve discovered what your Prince has done to Zoro.” Robin said quietly to them, and when they only nodded, she continued with, “I would appreciate it greatly if you would keep quiet about it for the time being. Zoro doesn’t know what Luffy has done quite yet.”

She let them go, Usopp moving immediately to cower behind Sanji, while the Incubus looked curiously at Robin. “What do you mean he doesn’t know?”

Robin sighed out, but she knew she wasn’t going to end that without a few questions, so she told the two of them what she knew in as few words as she could, only sticking to the important bits.

“A bonding without the other person knowing it happened?” Sanji said, eyebrows raised as he shook his head. “I didn’t know that was possible.”

“And _Luffy_ , of all people, did it.” Usopp added, Sanji nodding in agreement. “That’s unreal.”

That confused Robin but she put the question off for another time, instead saying, “Like I said, please keep quiet about this. I’d like the chance to explain things to Zoro in a way he’d understand. If someone were to tell him and he didn’t take it well, that would be no good for either party.”

“Yeah, especially since the bonding is done for life.” Usopp muttered, glancing over at Luffy, who was still trying to pounce on Zoro and wipe off the blood.

“Thank you.” Robin said with a slight head-bow before the three of them headed back over the the group.

“Luffy!” Zoro shouted, but it sounded almost amused. “Stop that!”

“But you have blood all over your face!” Luffy merely shouted back, still trying to clean him off.

Nami sighed out before bashing Luffy over the head and sending the Prince to the ground, holding his head and whining.

“Thank you.” Zoro breathed out before turning to the opened back door, seeing Perona and Chopper both peeking out. “It’s safe to come out, you guys!”

Perona whispered something to Chopper before leaving the house, though the Shifter didn’t; he turned around and headed back into the house, the noises he was making sounded like he was trying to find something.

“Perona!” Zoro called out as she got closer. “Are we clear?”

Perona glanced around, but everyone could see how her gaze went off-focus and she was muttering something underneath her breath. A second later, she blinked rapidly a few times and nodded. “No more Demons around here for now. They’ll continue to keep a lookout, though.”

“Tell ‘em thanks.” Zoro said, wiping the blood that was about to drip into his eye before muttering a quick, “Fuck it,” and pulling up the bottom of his t-shirt to wipe at the blood covering his face.

“There goes another one.” Perona sighed. “Dad’s gonna kick your ass for getting _another_ shirt bloody, Zoro.”

“Looks like it’s well past saving now.” Nami commented, noticing the tears and red marking it.

Luffy, who was still sitting on the ground from Nami’s hit, glanced up when he heard talking and his jaw almost hit the floor with what he saw. Since Zoro was using part of his shirt to wipe off blood, the lower-part of his torso was completely bare and… Luffy didn’t even realize he had licked his lips, much in the same way he does when he sees a delicious piece of meat. Zoro was covered in muscle, not an ounce of fat to be found anywhere, his skin having a healthy tan sheen to it, and he was ripped with a six-pack and everything! Luffy found he had to clench his hands tightly in restraint before he did something stupid, like reach up and touch him. But _damn_ did he want to! He’d never been too good at controlling his impulses when an idea got in his brain.

The others were oblivious to Luffy’s problem, all except for Robin, who was watching the little prince with nothing short of amusement. It reminded the Vampire of bait being dangled in front of an extremely hungry shark who couldn’t get to it, and the best part was Zoro didn’t even _know_ he was doing so.

Luffy didn’t even notice his breathing had deepened some, but then his head tilted when he finally caught sight of a scar starting at his right hipbone, diagonally bisecting his abdominals, and continuing up as it disappeared under his shirt.

Luffy popped up onto his feet before poking at the scar, causing Zoro to jump in shock before cursing, pulling his shirt down so he could properly glare at Luffy in annoyance.

Luffy pouted at the loss of his awesome view but pushed the thought away before asking Zoro, “Where’d you get that scar? It’s _really_ long!”

Zoro sighed out, shaking his head. “It’s nothing.”

“Zoro!” Luffy whined out, hopping up and down in front of the swordsman. “Tell me!”

Zoro looked at Luffy strangely but found he couldn’t deny the Demon again, which was weird. “It was nothing special. I lost my focus during training and this was the result.”

Perona rolled her eyes before snorting. “Yeah, _nothing_.”

Robin chuckled. “It was pretty bad when it happened, if I recall.”

“Well, it’s _not_ anymore, so drop it.” Zoro growled out, crossing his arms.

Wadō and Kumashi had since changed back into their “normal” forms, so they trotted over to Zoro and Perona, respectively, and rubbed against them.

Zoro gave Wadō a half-smile and ran his fingers through her fur. “You did good, Wadō. You had those idiots running scared.” Wadō basked under the praise, _woof-_ ing happily in agreement. “And Kumashi wasn’t anything to scoff at either.”

Kumashi let out a happy sound before leaping up into Perona’s arms, settling down, and purring.

“Having their help made this go a lot quicker.” Robin said, ruffling her fingers through Wadō’s white fur.

Luffy laughed as he crouched down in front of Wadō, giving her a thorough petting before stating, “You were awesome, Wadō!”

The Hellhound then let out a long series of _barks_ at Luffy, who was nodding every so often in turn.

“Really? You did?” Luffy finally replied, which got another string of _barks_ before Kumashi started _maow_ -ing as well, causing Luffy to look up at the Hellcat as well. “You guys got all that while you were fighting? You’re incredible!”

Zoro, Perona and Robin couldn’t have looked more lost if they tried.

Nami saw this and laughed before explaining to them, “Luffy has one other special gift, besides his rubber abilities and Haki. Like Gol D. Roger, Luffy can “hear the voice of all things”.”

“Huh?” Zoro and Perona both questioned while Robin looked deeply interested; she’d heard of something like that before, from her mother, actually.

“We don’t really know what it means, exactly.” Sanji said, crossing his arms. “But what we have discovered so far is that it allows Luffy to understand animals, any kind really. It doesn’t seem to matter.”

“We also know that isn’t the extent of it, but since this ability isn’t written down anywhere, we learn as Luffy does.” Nami finished before looking over at Luffy. “What did they hear?”

Luffy gave Wadō another pat on the head before pushing himself upright. “They heard the Demons talking around them, didn’t catch all of it, but they definitely heard some kind of name. Two of them, they think.”

Zoro looked down at the Hellhound, highly impressed. “You keep surprising me everyday, Wadō.”

_Woof!_

“She said thanks.” Luffy translated for Zoro, giving him a smile.

“What were the names, Luffy?” Robin asked.

“Oh, yeah.” Luffy scratched the top of his head before saying, “Well, the first thing they heard was a Mr. and then a 5 was mentioned.” Luffy looked back over at Kumashi, who gave him a few _maows_. “And one was female, since they said Miss, but then they mentioned Valentine or something.”

Robin looked like she stopped breathing, eyes wide with shock, because those weren’t separate words, no, they were two names.

“Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine.” Robin finally said before looking down at Wadō. “Are you sure?”

Wadō nodded.

“You know something, Robin?” Zoro asked, resting his right arm on his katanas.

The Vampire looked over at Nami and watched as the names clicked in the Kitsune’s mind. “Oh…oh _shit!”_

“Nami?” Luffy questioned, head tilted.

“Those names.” Nami said softly. “I’ve only ever heard those names in conjunction with one other name.”

“Baroque Crocodile.” Robin said just as softly. “I have no doubt he’s the man behind these attacks.”

“Who?” was the general questions from the others.

“He’s classified as an Elemental, but he’s the leader of a major crime syndicate known as Baroque Works.” Robin informed them, clenching her hands. “They do everything from robbery all the way to assassination. They aren’t very picky.”

“Robin?” Perona asked quietly, noticing the trembling from the Vampire.

Robin let out a breath, calming herself some. “I apologize.”

“What was it?” Zoro asked, his demeanor softening some.

“Baroque Works were the hired help behind the attack on my mother.” Robin gritted out before trying to relax once more.

Luffy looked over at Robin, sympathy in his gaze. “Your dad hired them to kidnap your mom?”

Robin nodded slowly. “Pretty much.” She breathed out once more before saying, “Once I figured out those men worked for Baroque Works, I did what I could to learn about them and keep an eye on them.”

“It’s made up of many types of Supernaturals.” Nami continued. “Not just Demons. Those that just tried to attack us were nothing more than foot soldiers sent to collect Luffy.”

“About that.” Sanji said, looking over at the Kitsune. “You said you’d explain everything after the battle. You told us the important bits, but I’m still really confused.”

Usopp nodded. “Me too.”

Nami sighed out. “Right, I did say so.”

“Let’s go inside and we can discuss things there.” Robin said, back to her composed self.

“Yeah, you guys missed _a lot_.” Luffy said with a wide smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To apologize for the long wait, I made this chapter extra-long for y'all! Well, I don't really think there's anything I need to add here.
> 
> Here's a little breakdown of the main character's species/powers: Sanji is an Incubus, but a reformed one who feeds differently than normal Incubi (if that makes any sense); it basically means he doesn't kill people. Usopp is a Nature Demon who has control over most aspects of nature and is deeply attuned with it. Like I said previously, Nami is a Kitsune, who has complete control over the element of electricity/lightning and she does have the ability to shift into an actual fox, but you'll see that later in the story. Chopper is a Shifter, but not all "Shifters" necessarily have to be human-forms shifting into animal-forms or vice versa, if you can understand that. Then there's Robin, who's a Vampire, an extremely powerful one from one of the higher-class Vampire family, the Nicos; the Head of the Nicos is Oran, who is Olvia's brother and became the Head when Olvia fled to the Human Realm, and no one knows Robin even exists, but if they did, the "Head" title would be hers by birthright. Zoro and Perona are both Human who have Supernatural capabilities: Zoro has the "Sight", allowing him to see all the Supernatural (even if they're hiding), and Perona is a Medium who can see and speak to spirits. Mihawk is what's known as a "Hunter", which is basically a Human born with a special gene that gives him heightened senses and almost supernatural capabilities, allowing him to fight on-par with the Supernatural, as its his job to hunt down any of them that "step out of line", in accordance to a treaty signed by the top Supernatural Creatures and Humans a long time ago so everyone can cohabit peacefully. Brook is a Fae, belonging to the Seelie Court, and has a special Fae power/ability concerning music. And then there's Luffy, who's an Archdemon, one of the most (if not THE most) powerful Demon species there is, allowing the D. Family to ascend as the rulers of the Demon Realm; they always have a special power and can use all three forms of Haki effortlessly. The D. Family has many lines (the ones I'm gonna mention will be the Monkey D.s, Gol D.s, Portgas D.s, Trafalgar D.s, and Jaguar D.s) and they're all Archdemons. Others will soon make an appearance, so stay tuned!


	8. Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'd like to apologize for taking so long to update, but life happens. I got a good chunk of the chapter written, but I needed to add a few things as ideas continued coming to me. I wanted to add a little more, to make it a bit longer, but I really couldn't, and I liked where I ended it, so I'm gonna go ahead and post it now. It explains a few things about where the Demons will stay while in the Human Realm, and they finally get some new clothes! Oh! And another comes to join the party, but that'll be near the end of the chapter. Well, that's all I have to say right now, so please read and enjoy. Wait! One more thing, I'd like to thank everyone who had read this story and have stuck with me. I love the concept I'm coming up with and the universe I've created, so I will stick with this story, but updating may be spaced out and sporadic. I'll try to do my best, but I'm only human, and I have things to do, plus that pesky thing called writer's block that occasionally hits me. Okay, now enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or any of One Piece's characters mentioned in this fic. Our amazing Oda-sensei does, and I think he should keep them. I'm only borrowing them for the time being.
> 
> Warning: This is AU. Basically, all that remains are their names, faces, and a few personality traits, but other than that, the characters in this story are mostly OOC.

**Two Hours Later (Demons are back in their “Human Forms”)**

_“Four months?!”_ both Sanji and Usopp shouted, staring at Robin as she explained everything they’d already discussed previously; it took a couple of hours to get through everything, and while Robin spoke, Perona told both Zoro and Nami that she was going to go into town and grab some clothes for them, using the money Mihawk always left for them to pay.

_“Why?” Nami had asked, to which Perona replied, “You can’t go walking around in what you have on now.”_

Zoro had left to get changed himself, weirdly aware of Luffy’s gaze on him as he left the room. Something was up with that Demon Prince, but he didn’t know _what_ , not yet anyway. He shook off the thought and grabbed a white t-shirt edged with dark green and a pair of comfortable denim jeans, pulling both on, and threaded his usual maroon belt through the loops, attaching his katanas to it a second later. With everything going on, being anywhere without them was no better than signing his own death warrant. Before going back downstairs, he stopped in his bathroom to scrub off the blood now dried to his face, inspecting it for any other damage. The Shifter had already done so when all of them came back inside, but he declared that Zoro didn’t have any lethal injuries and moved on to the next injured person.

 _Just a few nicks and scratches_ , he thought to himself, agreeing with what Chopper said. _Could’ve been worse._

He was heading back downstairs when he heard those two other Demons shout something before hearing the garage door open. _Perona’s back_. He left Robin to deal with their guests as he crossed through the kitchen, opening the door just as Perona walked up to it.

“Thanks.” Perona breathed out, handing Zoro a few of the bags as well.

Before Perona left to go into town, she had changed from her nighttime attire into a gothic punk black vest top edged with red frills and corset ribbon lacing up the front, red skinny jeans tucked into black heeled, mid-calf boots, and a red heart-buckled belt. Perona was very into the “gothic lolita” look.

“Did you get everything you needed?” Zoro asked with heavy sarcasm in his voice.

“Haha.” Perona said, plopping everything on the kitchen island. “I bought a few different things. I didn’t know what they’d like.”

“And for the stuff they don't like?” Zoro asked Perona as she headed to the entrance of great room.

“Return them.” Perona said with a smirk before calling everyone into the kitchen.

“Oooo.” Luffy called out excitedly as they all approached. “What is it?”

“I got you guys some clothes.” Perona said, waving her hands over the bags on the island. “Look through and pick what you like.”

The Demons, however, were staring at both Perona and Zoro weirdly, looking them over in what seemed like confusion.

“What?” Zoro ground out in annoyance.

“What _are_ those?” Nami questioned, pointing at both siblings’ pants.

The two looked down before at each other, then back at the Demons and saying, at the exact same time, “Jeans.”

The Demons blinked back at them blankly.

Robin, who had disappeared briefly after finishing her explanation, came strolling into the kitchen as well, dressed completely different than before; once Zoro and Perona joined Mihawk in the house, she started leaving clothes in one of the guest bedrooms, just in case she ever needed a fresh change of clothes. She’s now wearing a black leather jacket-like V-neck minidress with long sleeves, two small buttons strapped to the collar, and a zipper over the bodice—which was zipped up to the tops of her breasts—over a pale blue V-neck slip of the same length with dark blue polkadots and a high-collar, and black leather high-heeled boots that went up to mid-thigh.

“What are _you_ wearing?!” Nami screeched out in surprise when she looked over at the Vampire.

“A leather dress.” Robin answered with an amused smile.

“I assume they don’t have these materials in the Demon Realm.” Zoro said and the Demons shook their heads _no_. “Terrific.”

Nami glanced over at the bags in contemplation before moving forward to start her search; she was definitely liking the clothes the Human Realm had. After quickly finding the bag that contained women’s clothing, she sifted through it carefully, and from the corner of her eye, she saw the boys had started doing the same.

After about five minutes of careful searching and commenting over every single piece of fabric, the four Demons each had their outfits selected.

“Is there anything in there for me?” a slightly high-pitched, but somewhat familiar, voice asked from the entrance of the kitchen.

The Demons, though, knew who the voice belonged to. “I’m sure we can find something for you, Chopper.” Nami commented, looking through the bags again.

The trio from the Human Realm looked over to where the voice came from and their jaws dropped in shock. It seemed Chopper shifted, _again_. First was the reindeer, then the large, humanoid form, and now…

He got shorter, a _lot_ shorter, now only reaching about Perona’s knees. He kind of looked like a tanuki-like chibi-creature, though still covered in the same golden tan fur as his other forms, with a small, slim body, a large head, wide charcoal gray eyes, a less-defined muzzle, and his hooves were back; the only things, besides the fur color, that were the same were the blue nose, the antlers with the left one braced at the base, and the cap he had been wearing, as well as the maroon shorts.

“Chopper?” Perona questioned, squatting down in front of the Shifter to get a better look.

“Yeah?” Chopper said back, head tilted in question.

“I thought you said you were a reindeer.” Zoro said from behind Perona. “‘Cause now you look like a raccoon-dog.”

Chopper stomped his tiny hoof against the floor angrily. “I’m a reindeer, dammit! See! I have antlers!”

Perona squealed happily before picking Chopper up around the middle and hugged him to her. “He’s so cute!”

“I guess this is another of your forms.” Robin said, looking over Chopper.

“That’s right.” Nami answered before tossing something at Chopper. “These should be good, Chopper.”

“Thanks, Nami!” Chopper said back before telling Perona to put him down.

“Where can we change?” Nami asked Perona.

“Here, you all can follow me upstairs.” Perona said, beckoning with her hand. “I’ll show you.”

Robin and Zoro watched as they disappeared up the stairs before Zoro started gathering the clothes left behind and placing them back in the bags. Guess they’d be returning these, like Perona had said.

“So, Zoro, I was wondering something.” Robin said, coming around to lean against the island, watching Zoro passively.

Zoro looked up, head cocked in question. “Yeah?”

“I’m assuming you’re taking responsibility for the Demons while they’re stuck here in the Human Realm, correct?” Robin asked him, smiling slightly.

Zoro gave her a weird look before shrugging. “I guess I am. Besides, the enemy already knows what you and I both look like. We’re involved whether we like it or not. Besides, I can’t just kick them out now.” Something inside him clenched at the idea of never seeing any of these Demons again—especially one _particular_ Demon—though he had no idea _why_ he was feeling that way, but he didn’t have time to look deeper into it since Robin was looking at him again with this knowing look.

Robin then gave him a nod, like she already expected Zoro to respond like that. “So if they are staying here, where, exactly, are they to sleep?”

Zoro blinked at her, a little confused. “It’s not like we’re short on space here. We have those two empty bedrooms upstairs. They’ll just stay there.”

Robin nodded again, but still looked contemplative. “But there are five of them, and only two bedrooms.”

“Your point?” Zoro commented, grabbing the bags he had packed up and placing them quickly into the laundry room before going back to the kitchen. “One of them has two beds in it, and the other has a queen-sized bed. They can all fit.” He then looked over at Robin, eyebrow raised. “Plus, you have rooms too, don’t you?”

Robin giggled lightly, nodding in agreement. “I guess that’s true.” When Zoro continued looking oddly at her, she just said, “It was just a harmless question, Zoro. We did have to talk about it at some point, didn’t we?”

Zoro just shook his head but agreed with the Vampire, though something niggled at him that there _was_ something deeper to Robin’s questioning, but he couldn’t begin to guess what the Vampire was thinking about. Zoro learned, at an early age, it’s best not to try to read too much into Robin—it just led to headaches and confusion.

Robin _did_ , of course, have an ulterior motive for her questioning, but she wasn’t about to bring it up to Zoro _now_. She had guessed that Zoro would want to keep their guests here, but she also had a suspicion that one particular Demon wouldn’t be staying in the guest bedroom with the others. Oh no, _this_ little Demon would probably end up with Zoro, if Robin had been reading all the signs correctly….and she’s pretty sure she was. Luffy wouldn’t let Zoro out of his sights for any amount of time if he could help it—that was demonstrated earlier when Zoro declared he was fighting and Luffy got this upset expression on his face at the statement. Robin hid another giggle expertly even as she watched Zoro unconsciously look behind him, towards the stairs. She really couldn’t wait to see how this played out, but she also knew she needed to talk to Zoro about this bonding and soon, otherwise things might end up… _messy_.

“Should we make some lunch?” Robin finally asked, changing the subject smoothly as she began rolling up her sleeves.

“I guess.” Zoro said with a shrug as he looked back at the woman. “We got the food for it.”

“Yes, I noticed that.” Robin said, glancing around the kitchen. “Why _do_ you have so much food?”

Zoro sighed out. “I had this feeling we’d be needing it.” He looked back at the stairs once more at that.

“As always, your instincts were spot-on.” Robin said with a smile.

“Looks like it.” Zoro said, finally taking a seat on one of the barstools. He really wasn’t the best cook, though he could make basic things, but Robin was pretty good at it, as she usually cooked for them when he and Perona were younger and Mihawk was out of town.

Robin opened the large fridge, shifting through the copious amounts of food. “Now, what can we cook for lunch?”

“Cooking?” a smoky, baritone voice questioned as it entered the kitchen. “Let me. It’s the least I can do.”

The two looked over and found it was Sanji walking in, dressed _very_ differently than before. He’s now wearing a black double-breasted suit jacket buttoned closed over a golden yellow dress shirt and dark gold tie, black suit pants with a silver chain hanging from the belt loops on the left side while a double eyelet-studded dark gray belt was threaded through the loops, and black dress shoes.

“You look very handsome.” Robin complimented, which sent the blond into a tizzy Zoro could only call _“noodling”_ as he spouted some nonsense Zoro didn’t bother to follow.

Great, a promiscuous, lady-loving idiot, but it did make some sort of sense, Zoro figured. The blond moron _was_ an Incubus, after all. It still didn’t mean he had to _like_ it. Guys who fawned over women and treated them differently because they wore skirts and had boobs had always annoyed him. He could already tell he wasn’t going to get along well with this one.

 _“Sanji!”_ came the loud call from what Zoro had now deemed his own personal headache. “Did you say you were cooking!?” There was a stomping sound from the stairs before Luffy appeared in the kitchen, looking back and forth wildly.

The Demon Prince also looked different, dressed now in a red unbuttoned, 3/4-sleeve cardigan with ruffled cuffs and hemline, jean shorts with a thick, white fluffy hemline and a yellow sash tied around his hips, and black flip-flop straw sandals. He looked extremely comfortable in that outfit, the whole laid-back look completed by the straw hat perched on his head.

“Lunch?” another voice sounded from just behind Luffy as it followed the Prince in. “That’s good, I’m starving!”

Usopp was the next to come in and was now wearing yellow waist-high poofy pants that reached his shins with white fluff lining the top and red suspenders holding them up, tan mid-calf boots, a blue/white-striped armband covering his left forearm, a white suncap perched on his head, and a red satchel with the strap looped diagonally across his torso; he was also still wearing those goggles and headphones he’d been wearing previously, having not taken them off when he changed.

“Me too! Me too!” the high-pitched voice from before said as Chopper came into view from behind Usopp. He was dressed simply in a white/yellow-striped tank top and orange shorts.

“Those outfits suit you splendidly.” Robin said with a smile as she took a seat next to Zoro, Sanji completely taking over the kitchen.

“Really?” Luffy said with a smile, hopping up onto the island to sit cross-legged on it, right in front of Zoro and Robin. “I thought so too!”

“The clothes here are very comfortable.” Usopp commented, taking a seat in the last barstool beside Robin, Chopper hopping into his lap after he got situated.

“I like them!” Chopper called out cheerily.

There was the _clip-clap_ sound of heels heading towards them before Nami and Perona came into view, both talking quietly about something. The Kitsune changed drastically into a green/white-striped halter bikini top, low-rider denim skinny jeans, a black belt with a silver berry symbol-buckle, and orange heeled sandals; sheathed into the right side of her belt were those three metal tubes she had been wearing in the band around her thigh earlier.

“You’re a vision, Nami- _swan!”_ Sanji cooed out, eyes turning to hearts when he saw the amount of skin Nami was showing.

Nami rolled her eyes, already used to this behavior from Sanji, before smiling. “Thanks, Sanji. Are you making lunch?”

“Of course! Only the finest for the ladies!” he trilled out.

“Sanji!” Luffy whined out. “I’m hungry!”

“Shut up, you garbage disposal.” Sanji said to Luffy, though fond exasperation could be heard in his tone. “You’ll get your food.”

“Yay!” Luffy exclaimed before looking over at Zoro and Robin. “Sanji’s cooking is the best! His dad’s actually the cook for my Family, but Sanji usually cooks all my meals for me! They’re the best!”

“How nice.” Robin said with a smile.

There was a comfortable silence for about five minutes, everyone lost in their own thoughts, before a _clang_ of a pot on the stovetop brought everyone back.

“I still can’t believe we’re really gonna be stuck here for _four_ months!” Usopp said, breaking the silence as he rested his elbow on the island in front of him. “What’s everyone else gonna think when we don’t show up for that long?”

“Hmm.” Luffy humphed out, head tilting to the side. “I didn’t really think about that.”

“Of course you didn’t.” Nami said, shaking her head as she leaned against the island next to where Luffy was sitting. “But Usopp does bring up a good point.” She smacked her forehead with her palm, rubbing it. “ _Why_ didn’t we think about that sooner? Everyone is going to panic when they realize we’re gone!”

“Especially since it's _Luffy_ who’s missing.” Usopp added, frowning in thought.

“Has nothing like this ever happened before?” Robin asked, curious.

Nami shook her head. “No, nothing like this.” She glanced at Luffy before adding, “It’s true that Luffy likes to explore and it isn’t uncommon for him to be gone for a few days, but his dad is always okay with that because he knows we’re,” she motions to herself, the other Demons and Chopper, “always with him.”

“But when Luffy doesn’t come back after those few days, people _will_ start to panic.” Usopp said, chin now resting in his palm. “Plus, none of us are there either, and that’ll send up _major_ flags. His Family will freak.”

“This is a problem.” Robin said, nodding slowly. “And the worst part is none of you can send a message back, nor can any of them come here without risking being trapped here as well.”

“This whole thing is crap.” Zoro summed up, hand landing on Wadō’s head when she sat down next to him. “I’m not sure if those bastards even realized that Luffy would essentially be trapped here or if it was a coincidence, but we really couldn’t have asked for a shitier situation.”

Robin nodded. “Either way you look at it, this makes their job of recovering Luffy easier than if he were able to return to the Demon Realm.”

“Only wrench in their plans was our interference.” Perona said from where she was leaning on the island, across from Zoro.

The Demons and Chopper were quiet for a moment as they thought over Perona’s words. It’s true, they would’ve been seriously screwed if they hadn’t been found when they were—still unconscious—and they couldn’t remember if they ever thanked the siblings, and Robin, for all they’ve done so far.

“I don’t know if we’ve said this yet,” Nami finally spoke up, giving the two Humans and Vampire a small smile, “but thanks for everything you’ve done. We’d probably be dead if you guys hadn’t found us when you did.”

Zoro rolled his eye, not even interested in their gratitude. “If you wanna thank anybody, thank Wadō and Kumashi. They were the ones that led us to you.” He snorted. “Hell, we probably would’ve still been _asleep_ if they hadn’t woken us up. Don’t make a big deal about it.”

Perona rolled her eyes at Zoro’s usual attitude, shaking her head. “What my brother _meant_ to say was, you’re welcome.” She smiled at the Demons and Chopper. “But there’s no need to thank us, really. You’re our friends now, aren’t you?”

That stumped their guests completely before Luffy started laughing his usual carefree laugh.

“Yeah!” he exclaimed with a large smile. “We’re all friends!”

No one, except maybe Robin, noticed the way Luffy’s gaze lingered on Zoro a moment longer after that proclamation, a sad look tinting his eyes. Then the expression was gone a second later, like it never happened, his smile widening once more.

“Oh, that reminds me.” Nami said, looking between the two Humans. “Where are we going to stay while we’re here? Is there some sort of Inn or empty house somewhere around here?”

Zoro, Perona and Robin all looked at each, blinking blankly, before back at their guests, kind of confused.

“What?” Nami asked, a little defensive at the looks.

“Oh, sorry, I thought it was pretty obvious.” Perona said, having already thought this through before Robin and Zoro had talked about it.

Their guests just blinked back at them.

Zoro sighed out, running a hand down his face. “ _Here_. You guys are gonna stay _here_ while you’re in this Realm.”

 _“Really?!”_ Luffy asked, eyes shining as bright as stars. “We’re gonna stay _here?!”_

“It’s not like we’re lacking space.” Zoro said with a shrug, though a little freaked out about how happy that made the Demon Prince.

“Yeah, we have two empty bedrooms upstairs.” Perona added, hand stroking Kumashi after he’d hopped up onto the island. “It’s no trouble at all.”

“And if that’s still not enough, I have some space as well.” Robin said, resting her chin in her palm.

“It’d probably be easier, and safer, to stay here, especially with the crazy strong wards you guys have set up around the property.” Nami said offhandedly.

“My property is warded as well, but they don’t come close to the strength of the wards I have set up on this land.” Robin said with a smile. “But, all the same, if you’d like extra space, my house is open.”

“Thanks, Robin.” Nami said with a nod and smile. “I’ll keep it in mind.”

“The guest bedrooms should be set up with sheets and pillows and stuff, the bathrooms stocked as well, but I also grabbed some pajamas when I was out earlier…” Perona paused, looking around for something. “Where’d those bags go?”

“I put them in the laundry room, out of the way.” Zoro said, fingers combing through the fur on Wadō’s head.

Perona nodded and got up, heading to the laundry room to grab the bags. The Demons and Chopper, however, were very confused, _again_. They were starting to really dislike that feeling.

“What are “pajamas”, Zoro?” Luffy asked the question all the Demons and Chopper were thinking, head cocked to the side.

Zoro and Robin both looked at each other in disbelief before back at the confused Demons and Chopper. No one said anything for a few seconds.

“Seriously?” Zoro finally asked, eyebrow raised. “You guys don’t have _pajamas_ either?”

The others shook their heads.

“Pajamas are what we call the clothes we sleep in here in the Human Realm.” Robin answered with an amused smile.

“You guys have specific clothes to _sleep_ in?” Usopp asked, looking interested.

Robin nodded. “We do. It just makes calling what we wear easier on everyone.”

“The Human Realm is so fascinating.” Chopper commented with a smile.

“Here we go.” Perona said, bringing a large bag into the kitchen and placing it on the island. “You guys can look through when it’s time to go to sleep.”

“Tha—” Nami started before Perona cut her off.

“What did I just say?” Perona leaned her hip against the island, right in front of the Kitsune. “Stop thanking us for every little thing. It’s really no problem.”

Zoro snorted but agreed with his sister while Robin merely giggled before giving them another small smile.

The Demons and Chopper smiled at the three for that. They didn’t realize Humans could be so accepting, though they really should’ve expected it, given that they’re friends with a Vampire, have two pet Hell-animals, and have special powers themselves. If they were to be dumped somewhere, they probably couldn’t have asked for a better place than this. Though they’re all still worried about this “plot” they’d found themselves in the middle of, at least they had a safe place to stay and figure everything out. Plus, Luffy’s always up for making new friends…and, apparently, something more.

No one said anything else after that for a bit, the only sounds being the clatter of Sanji’s cooking, when Zoro suddenly shivered hard, like a shock went through his system.

Luffy, since he’d been watching Zoro like a hawk, noticed it first. “Zoro? Something wrong?”

Zoro shook out his hands, but _damn_ he really hated that sensation. “No, everything’s alright. Don’t worry.”

Nami, having seen it too, said, “Don’t worry? What the hell was that?”

Zoro didn’t say anything as he stood up from the barstool, Wadō moving out of his way, before he looked over his shoulder and said, “We have a guest.”

The Demons and Chopper each tensed in trepidation, looking at Zoro with wide eyes, though Zoro—as well as Robin and Perona—looked perfectly calm, like nothing was wrong.

“What _kind_ of guest?” Nami asked carefully.

“Why don’t you come and see?” Zoro merely said as he exited the kitchen and headed to the foyer.

Perona and Robin gave each other smiles as they got up as well, following the green-haired swordsman out of the kitchen. The others all looked at one another in confusion before Luffy, Nami and Usopp all followed the other three out of the room, Chopper opting to stay with Sanji, who was still cooking and not worried about much else.

Zoro opened the front door and stepped out, standing on the porch as he waited for the figure to make his way up the driveway. The wards had alerted him to the approach of the man, but since he wasn’t perceived as a threat by them, they weren’t set off like before. The sensation was still extremely strange to Zoro, but at least it wasn’t as bad as when the wards were set _off_. That was a pain in the ass to deal with.

Just as Robin and Perona joined him did they all see a figure come running up the driveway, moving at an extremely fast pace as he drew closer.

“Yohoho!” the man laughed out as he finally approached the trio on the porch. “It warms my heart to see the three of you safe and sound.”

Standing in front of them was another permanent fixture in Zoro and Perona’s life, one they had grown up with, like Robin. Looking the same as he did the day Zoro first met him—though now wearing a gray blazer left open over a silver, gray-pinstriped dress shirt, dark blue dress pants, a red belt, and white loafers—Laboon Brook gave a wide smile and short bow.

“Hey, Brook.” Zoro greeted as Wadō darted out of the front door a second later and trotted around the tall Fae happily.

“Hello, my friends.” Brook replied with, dropping the hand not holding his purple shikomizue to pet the Hellhound.

“Who the hell is _here_ , you guys?” an angry woman’s voice shouted from the open door as she and two others made their way through it. “You can’t just _say_ something like that and leave!”

“Fufufu.” Robin laughed, covering her mouth shortly after. “I suppose it _was_ rather rude of us. My apologies, Nami.”

Brook’s eyes had widened when he caught sight of the three strangers as they came to stand beside his friends, resisting the urge to step back as he sensed what the three of them were. “Demons?”

Zoro sighed out in exasperation because he was getting _really_ sick of explaining this over and over again. “Yeah, Brook, they’re Demons.”

Brook was lost.

“Brook,” Perona said, motioning behind her at the three, “this is Luffy, Nami and Usopp. Guys, meet Brook. He’s another family friend, like Robin.”

“A Fae?” Nami asked, eyes wide with disbelief. “You guys are friends with a _Fae?”_ She was reacting just like she did when she found out about Robin.

Brook, on the other hand, was silently studying Luffy because he looked _very_ familiar to Brook, but he couldn’t recall from _where_. There was also the issue of the amount of power Brook could sense coming from the young Demon, and it was setting him on edge.

Robin, of course, noticed this immediately. “Brook, as I’m sure you can sense, Luffy is not a regular Demon.” Brook gave the Vampire a nod, crossing his arms, and Robin continued. “His full name is Monkey D. Luffy. The—”

“—Demon Prince.” Brook finished for her, now realizing where he’d seen the boy before. It was during that one time he had accompanied his… _friend_ to the Demon Realm and ran into the boy briefly before being pulled away.

“A Vampire and now a Fae.” Usopp commented, looking between Robin and Brook. “You guys have some _really_ weird friends.”

Zoro shrugged and Perona smiled, but they both didn’t contradict what the Demon just said.

A thought then struck Luffy and he couldn’t help but ask, “What Court do you belong to?”

Brook blinked some before answering with, “Seelie.” The young Prince seemed to sigh in relief at that. “Is something the matter?”

Luffy shook his head, exchanging looks with Nami and Usopp, before answering with, “No, it’s just…” He trailed off.

“We don’t really have good _relations_ with the Unseelie Court.” Nami completed for Luffy, because she knew he didn’t like talking about it. “Let’s just leave it at that.”

Brook nodded, though was still a little confused, but at least they didn’t seem to have a problem with the Seelie Court.

“What are you even doing here, Brook?” Perona finally asked, head cocked to the side. “Did we have plans today?”

“No, nothing of the sort.” Brook said with a shake of his head.

“Then why are you here?” Zoro said, looking at Brook with an eyebrow raised. “You said you were glad to see us safe when you got here.”

“I felt some weird vibrations coming from this side of town,” Brook explained, looking between his friends. “I was worried about your well-being, especially with Mihawk out of town right now.” He then gave them a smile. “But I guess I shouldn’t have been so worried after all. It seems everything is alright.”

Zoro, Perona and Robin all exchanged looks at that, making Brook become uneasy again.

“You should come inside, Brook.” Perona said, motioning with her hand.

“Yeah, we need to fill you in on what’s going on.” Zoro added, turning around and moving between the Demons, heading back into the house.

The Demons exchanged looks as well, but they followed after Zoro a second later, Robin, Perona and a confused Brook going after them too. It seems they now needed to bring someone _else_ in on their ongoing problem. How fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you think? Any good? And we now have Brook here as well! What fun. *v*
> 
> Now, explanation time. Like I stated earlier, Brook is a Fae (Faerie, Sidhe, whatever you prefer) and came from the Faerie Realm before he moved to the Human Realm. The Faerie Realm is split into two “Courts”—the Seelie and Unseelie; the Seelie are the “nicer” of the Fae and the Unseelie are the darker Fae, at least reputedly; the Seelie are the most powerful from Beltaine to Samhain (through the Spring and Summer), while the Unseelie are the most powerful from Samhain to Beltaine (through the Autumn and Winter). Now, the two Courts aren’t cut so black and white, meaning the Seelie aren’t the beings of good, just more inclined to be so, while the Unseelie aren’t the harbingers of chaos, just more inclined to be that way. For this story, I have decided to make Edward Newgate (aka Whitebeard) the King of the Seelie Court, and he has two kids—Marco and Haruta, who are the Faerie Prince and Princess (Marco is actually half-Fae/half-Shifter, since I wanna keep him a Phoenix, but the healing properties he has are the Fae powers; Thatch and Izo are also living in the Faerie Realm with him, though Thatch is a Shifter—and Marco's cousin via their moms—and Izo is a Vampire; MarcoxAce pairing is something else I'm doing in this story, but later). The Unseelie Court is ruled by Boa Hancock and her two sisters, Sandersonia and Marigold (nothing against them, I actually find Hancock adorable, but I just don't ship her with Luffy, and I needed an Unseelie Court and they fit; I'm not making them evil, just kinda annoying), and the Court is only made up of women, and has been that way since the creation of the two Courts. Each Court has a symbol that identifies which Court one belongs to—Seelie Court’s is a white rose and the Unseelie’s Court is a dark bluish-purple rose; a Fae will always have either symbol somewhere on them or in their homes. All Fae have special "powers" that make them "Fae", and each are different, depending on the individual, but there are also four things all Fae automatically have, but the strength depends on the Fae: the gift of tongues, the power of glamour, shapeshifting, and flight. All Fae live under a strict code of honor which it is taboo to break: never lie; never pry; never use glamour on another Fae; duels; and great oaths. Each Court also have their own codes of conduct, a code which the individuals of the Courts must follow (like in Human courts). Seelie: death before dishonor; love conquers all; beauty is life; and never forget a debt. Unseelie: change is good; glamour is free; honor is a lie; and passion before duty. The Fae also have only three weakness: iron, rowan wands, and shiny objects (since Fae are very susceptible to them, tho its only useful for distracting them).
> 
> Well, that's all I really had to add about that XD. Again, I'm so sorry about the long wait, so I hope you enjoy this chapter, and I will try really hard to get the next chapter out faster! Stay beautiful, my ZoLu-loving people!


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